Everything and Nothing
by SisiDraig
Summary: AU fic! Vince Noir is one of the biggest rock stars in the world. Howard Moon is a struggling jazz musician. When the two men meet their worlds will be turned upside down!...xx
1. Chapter 1

**I've loved reading everyone else's AU fics. (I know what that means now, thanks to ButtonsMagoo) so I thought I'd give it a go!! Hope you like it!**

**Dedicate to swisstony for all her lovely reviews and stories (which are never rubbish although she continues to insist that they are)!**

**D/C: Definitely not mine! - still :(**

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**Cheekbone Talks to 'Vince Noir'; Rock and Roll Superstar.**

Dresses like the rolling stones, owns the stage like Freddy Mercury, sings like a male Whitney - is this the best musician ever? Possibly.

Socialite and playboy, Vince Noir, has been given yet more rave reviews by those bigwigs in the music industry for his recent performance at Wembley Stadium. But when we interview him we explore what you really want to know and delve straight in to his personal life. Including the girl of his dreams: (something many girls wish to be)

_So Vince, you__'__re young, rich, handsome, the girls love you. What we want to know is, is there a special lady in your life?_

V: There are lots of special ladies in my life. I couldn't possibly concentrate on just one. Where's the fun in that?

_Are you suggesting that you__'__ll never settle down?_

V: I'm happy the way things are, but my motto is 'never say never'. I'm sure the right girl is out there somewhere.

_But what is the right girl? What type of girl would make the seemingly untameable Vince Noir settle down?_

V: (laughs) She'd have to be pretty special. I like my girls fiery and unpredictable. Unique and up for a laugh and maybe more than a bit, erm… forgiving, you know, should I get… um, lets call it, tempted. But I'm not saying I don't like the quiet girls. There's something to be said for the wall flower sometimes.

_And what about music? What are you planning to do next?_

V: Well, I'm doing the music festival in Leeds next week. I'm headlining that, obviously. And after that? MTV awards, I think. Maybe headline Glastonbury, or Reading. And possibly a world tour. Who knows? I'm one of the best musicians ever! I suppose there's no stopping me. Hell, I think it's safe to say… I'm bigger than Jesus.

------

Ring, Ring.

Ring, Ring.

"Hello."

"_Howard Moon?_"

"Yes."

"_Hello, Mr Moon. It__'__s Laura Blackwood here, I__'__m in charge of finding acts for the Leeds festival tomorrow and the company funding the festival have got it into their heads that we should have some local acts. Don__'__t ask me why? I__'__ve told them it__'__ll ruin it, but would they listen. No, of course not. We__'__re going to have to set up a tent just for the local rubbish that we__'__ve found but__…_"

"Sorry, is this going anywhere?" asked Howard irritably.

"_Yes, sorry. Basically, would you be interesting in being part of the Leeds festival tomorrow?_"

"Tomorrow!? That's a bit soon isn't it?""_You live in Leeds, what__'__s the problem? Anyway, if you don__'__t want the gig, that__'__s fine by me. I can get some proper musicians in._"

"No! It's okay. I'll do it." gabbled Howard quickly. He didn't care how futile the gig was. Or how embarrassingly rubbish the set up was going to be. Things weren't going well for the man with a plaque from the mayor of Leeds and God knew, he needed the money. Any money.

They say an true artist would rather starve for his art than give up and go into a boring 9-5 job. But Howard was close to needing an out. He was sick of living in his hovel of a flat with no water, gas or electricity. Sitting on a hard wooden floor, sleeping under a thin blanket, eating cold food. He could pack up his worldly possessions in a small suitcase and the most important thing in his life was his saxophone. He was sick of relying on his sister and his friends for money.

"_You really going to do it?_" asked the woman, down the receiver sounding disappointed.

"Yes, yes please."

"_Fine._" came the huffy response."_I__'__ll see you tomorrow._"

Dial tone.

"Hey, who was that?" asked Alice, setting down two mugs of tea on the cardboard box, which Howard used as a table.

"Some woman named Laura. I've got a gig tomorrow." he said flatly.

"That's brilliant!" beamed Alice then, noticing Howard's unenthusiastic expression, she added "That _is _good, isn't it?"

"I suppose."

"You don't look very happy about it."

"Well, it's just going to be another crap job, for crap pay, in my crap life."

"Oh cheer up." scorned Alice "At least you're doing what you love."

"Hmm. But I keep thinking it's not worth it. I hate the fact I can't afford the rent on this place."

"Are you behind again?"

Howard looked at his sister and thought about lying, but what was the point? So, he just nodded silently.

"How much d'you need?" she asked brightly, pulling out her purse.

"Put your money away."

"Howard." she sighed, "Stop being so stubborn, let me help you."

"No, you're my baby sister. If anything, I should be helping you."

"Look." she smiled, handing him a few notes. "You can just pay me back when your rich and famous."

"We both know that's never going to happen." he replied bitterly. "It was a stupid childhood dream. But I think it might be time to grow up. I'm not a child anymore. I'm getting too old to keep chasing dreams."

"Oh stop being so pessimistic." groaned Alice. "It's not all bad."

"Stop trying to cheer me up." snapped Howard.

"Well if I don't your just going to sit here being miserable. You should get out, go to the pub or something."

"I don't want to go out."

"What about the park? Or the restaurant? Museum you like the museum, or maybe…"

"SHUT UP!" yelled Howard, throwing his mug against the wall so that it shattered leaving a brown tea stain on the white-wash walls. Alice jumped but stayed silent, waiting for Howard to calm down. Eventually, his fists unclenched and the vein in his neck stopped throbbing but he still refused to turn round, opting instead to stare at the newly created stain on his wall.

"You know what?" Alice snarled, her words threatened by tears "I had so much respect for you when you refused to go into the family law firm. You stood there in front of our parents and told them you were going follow your dreams. Our whole family told you not to. They turned their backs on you, but you did it anyway and I stood by you because I believed in you. _You_ believed in you. But now? Now, you're just a washed up loser… and I've go no respect for you at all." Howard heard the ruffle of material as she stood up, he heard the click of her heals as she stormed across the wooden floor and he heard the bang of the front door as she slammed it behind her.

He didn't need her. He'd manage without her continued support. It would be just him and his saxophone. Everyone else had always hated him. What difference did it make if his sister hated him too?


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.**

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Howard got off the bus, wearing his best suit, with his trusty sax stowed safely under his arm. There was a fifteen minute walk from here, but the driver had assured him it was the closest stop on the bus route and Howard couldn't afford a taxi. Normally, the long walk wouldn't have bothered him but there were big black clouds in the sky that threatened yet more rain, (as though there hadn't been enough over these past few days) and Howard had forgotten his umbrella.

The man trudged along the pavement mentally rehearsing his set, when he felt a large rain drop fall on his strategically messy coiffure. This rain drop was followed by another one and another one and another, until, pretty soon, it was pouring down. He held his saxophone above his head to try and keep himself a bit dry but it wasn't working. Just as he thought it couldn't get any worse, a long white limo drove past, straight through a puddle, sending a tidal wave of muddy, oily water right over him. Howard lost it. He dropped his saxophone and ran after the limo, waving his fists, screaming and cursing like a mad man.

Much to his dismay, the limo stopped suddenly and began to reverse. Howard just stood, rooted to the spot. He couldn't run away, what would be the point? And anyway, he was so nervous he was pretty sure his legs wouldn't have moved if he'd wanted them to. The limo stopped so that the back window was inline with him and the black glass began to unwind, slowly.

'Just apologise' thought Howard, 'don't make it any worse. People who drive around in limo's are usually rich or… well, probably in the mafia. Oh god, what if they just shoot me. No Howard.' he told himself, 'don't be stupid. Just say sorry and walk away. Apologise and…'

Suddenly, Howard's thoughts were completely distracted as the person behind the tinted glass was revealed. He was the most beautiful thing Howard had ever seen. Quirky, sexy and incredibly striking. Everything Howard wasn't. This man had fabulous hair, cheekbones so sharp they could cut through steal and big blue, draw-you-in eyes.

"You know, if you take a picture it'll last longer." scorned the man.

"S-sorry" stammered Howard, blushing furiously as he realised he'd been gawping.

"Don't worry. I get that look all the time, though," he smirked, eyeing Howard up and down "it's usually from fashionable, colourful teenage girls. Now, what do you want?"

"Huh?" Howard asked, a look of complete confusion plastered across his face.

"You ran after my limo, yelling." explained the man, looking at his nails and giving a fake yawn to suggest he was becoming bored. "_What_ did you want?" he repeated.

"Oh, erm. Nothing." Howard said, quietly.

"Autograph?"

"Why would I want your autograph?"

The man in the limo cocked an eyebrow and, as politely as he could, he enquired "Are you a retard?"

"No." cried Howard indignantly.

"Escaped from a mental home?"

"No."

"Homeless?"

"No!"

"So, why don't you want my autograph? And why are you walking around in the rain with no coat? And what's up with the saxophone case? Oh," said the man, an expression of realisation dawning on his handsome features. "are you busking?"

"No. I'm a professional musician." said Howard proudly.

"Me too. But, you knew that of course."

"No I didn't."

"But, I'm Vince Noir. Rock and roll star." Vince said incredulously. "You must have heard of me!"

"Nope."

"Flaming hell. Where've you been living? In a fisherman's welly?"

Howard grinned. "No."

"I'm one of the best musicians of all time. It says in all the best magazines; NME, The Face, Cheekbone. I can't believe you've never heard of me. In fact, I'm playing the Leeds festival today. You should come and hear me. I'm good. I'll get you a free ticket."

"It's okay, I'm going to be…"

"No, no. I insist. What's your name?"

"Really, it's fine. You see, I'm actually going to be…"

"Name?" barked Vince.

"Howard Moon." sighed the dejected man.

"Howard Moon." Vince repeated as he scribbled something on a piece of paper. "There." he beamed, thrusting the paper into Howard's hand. "Give that to a woman named, erm, Laura Blackwood or something, and she'll get you a backstage pass. You'll love it. See you later Harold."

"Howard." the older man corrected him.

"Yeah, whatever. Drive!" and with that the limo was gone.

---

Howard arrived at the festival over half an hour late.

"Where the _hell_ have you been?" snarled Laura, when he'd finally located her in the mass of egotistic 'rock stars' that were milling around in the small field they were calling 'backstage'"And _why_ do you look like you swam here?"

"It's raining." shrugged Howard.

"Well, you can't go on stage looking like that. Find something dry to put on."

"Where am I supposed to…?" but before he'd finished his question, she was gone (no doubt attending to some arrogant, self-loving musician, who's water wasn't quite the right temperature.) Howard hated all these music types, it was times like this he wondered why he'd ever wanted to be a musician but he knew that when he got on stage and played his sax all these feeling of hate would disappear and all it would be was him and the music. Bliss.

Howard stood dumbly, watching people with clipboards push people with instruments into various demountables marked 'changing rooms'. He watched a girl with long bright blue hair screamed "I ASKED FOR BACARDI AND COKE. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?", then he watched in disbelief as four people ran to her aid.

Suddenly, all the commotion stopped. The monotonous buzz of excited chatter ceased. The pushing, the pulling and tussling halted and everyone parted to allow the man with long hair and hypnotic blue eyes through. Howard, like everyone else, couldn't help but stare. This man was wearing a white jacket, fitted white cotton trousers and a bright pink t-shirt, which read 'What would you get if you crossed the talent of Mozart, the money of Bill Gates and the looks of Brad Pitt? - Me!'

Vince Noir strolled through the crowd of people, now and again winking, grinning or saying 'Hey baby' to a girl so that she'd blush, giggle, or more than likely, faint. But, when he saw Howard, his face truely lit up and he cried "Harold! You came! I knew you would."

Howard knew he should hate this man. He stood for everything Howard hated about the music industry, but something about the way Vince had smiled at him had made Howard's heart flutter. Then, Vince looked over his shoulder and shouted "Hey! Tommy! He came! You owe me 50." and Howard's heart sank. It wasn't seeing Howard he was happy about, it was winning his stupid bet.

Vince turned back to Howard and said "Jesus, Harold…"

"It's Howard."

"…you're soaking. Come to my dressing room. I'll see if I can find you something dry that fits you." Howard though he should say 'no' but he found he couldn't resist this man and it wasn't as though anyone else was willing to help him. So he followed obediently, ignoring the jealous looks from almost everyone around them.

---

"Try this. And, what about this? Or this? Or maybe, hmm, well you can try this and see. Oh and you can have this, it's so last week." By the time Vince had finished sifting through his wardrobe, Howard had almost completely disappeared under a mountain of clothes. Vince turned to look at him and laughed out loud at the sight of the top of Howard's head just visible over the pile of clothes on his lap, before sitting down and saying

"Have you really never heard of me?"

'God,' thought Howard 'he really is a conceited bastard.'

"No." sighed Howard, standing up so that the pile of clothes fell to the floor . He began to pick through them carefully. All of Vince's clothes, it seemed, were ridiculously tight or sparkly or both and Howard thought he was going to be hard pushed to find something decent to wear.

"But everyone's heard of me." insisted Vince.

"Not me."

"You must have, what about one of my songs?" Vince picked up an acoustic guitar which was resting against the wall and began to sing a selection of his hits, but Howard didn't recognise any of them.

"You really don't know who I am?" Vince smiled, placing the guitar back on the floor.

Howard shook his head, picking up an all in one red suit and tossing in quickly aside.

"Good, I can relax." Vince mumbled.

"What was that?" asked Howard

"Nothing." laughed Vince, sliding off the chair and picking a plain white shirt up off the floor and throwing it at Howard, who caught it deftly. "Try that, with, erm… these." he said, pulling out a pair of black cotton trousers from the pile of clothes at Howard's feet. "And I've got a tie somewhere, if you want it."

"Thanks." said Howard, gratefully accepting the 'normal' clothes. "Have you got a plain black tie?"

"Probably not." grinned Vince, "I don't really usually do plain… or black, for that matter." Whilst Vince rooted around for a suitable tie, Howard quickly got changed and was pleasantly surprised to find the clothes fitted him quite well, though they were a little more fitted than he was used to.

"Hey, what about this?" asked Vince, holding a tie above his head. "It looks like the keys on a piano."

"Yeah, that's fine. Thanks." Howard said, taking the tie.

"No problem. That look really suits you."

"Um, thanks." bushed Howard, fumbling with the tie.

"So, Laura told me you're on the bill. Why didn't you say?"

"I tried." muttered Howard angrily, as he failed to knot the tie.

"Sorry?"

"Nothing." said Howard, redoing the tie for a third time. He didn't know what was wrong with him, maybe it was the pressure of Vince watching.

"So, what music do you play?"

"Erm, Jazz."

"Urgh. Oh no. Really? I _hate _jazz!"

"That doesn't surprise me." said Howard, as he messed up the tie again.

"Here." laughed Vince, walking towards the older man, let me do it. "Why doesn't it surprise you that I don't like jazz?"

"I don't know." Howard said, his voice going up several octaves as he watched the other man deftly tying the piano-key tie. "I guess you're too shallow for jazz."

"Thank you." beamed Vince, patting the tie against Howard chest and loosening it around his neck.

"That wasn't a compli-. Never mind" sighed Howard. "What are you doing?" he squeaked, as he felt the top button of his shirt being undone.

"Just making you look sexy." Vince replied coolly, as he folded down the collar on Howard's shirt. All the time staring intently up at the older man, biting his bottom lip invitingly.

Howard knew his heart was pounding and he was sure he was shaking. Vince still had his arms around his neck, although he'd finished 'making him look sexy' ages ago. The smaller man was pulling Howard in, closer and closer until there noses were almost touching. Why was Vince teasing him like this? Why him? Why not one of the shallow girls that had virtually chased him to the changing room?

"Kiss me." breathed Vince, moving so that there lips almost brushed.

"W-what?" stammered Howard, eyes wide with surprise.

"You want to kiss me, don't you Howard?"

"Well, I… I mean, I"

"So stop dawdling and kiss me." Vince said, pouting a little to show he was fed up of waiting. Howard didn't need to be asked again. He leant the small distance forward so that their lips met and suddenly Vince was alive. His hands wandered everywhere. His kiss full of vigour and passion and Howard had never experienced anything like it.

Suddenly, the changing room the door flew open and the boys sprang apart. Howard knew he looked a little flustered but Vince remained cool and turned to the girl, who'd just barged in asking.

"Can I help you?"

"It's the fifteen minute warning call for a Harold Moon."

"Howard." Vince and Howard said in unison. Then Vince looked the girl up and down, raised an eyebrow and said "What you and I could do in fifteen minutes, eh?" Howard felt his stomach churn horribly as he watched the girl blush before leaving, still giggling like a school girl.

As soon as the door closed, Vince stepped closer to Howard and lowered his voice predatorily, "Or me and you for that matter."

Howard pushed him away roughly, which made the smaller man smirk "Maybe later then."

"Maybe never." frowned Howard.

"Oh I'll have you." said Vince knowingly. "You want me, it's written all over your face."

Howard opened his mouth as though to deny it, but shut it again. Vince grinned, seemingly very pleased with himself.

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**Happy Firework Day/ Bonfire Night, whatever you want to call it. Hope it goes off with a bang… (what a Rob Brydon style joke). Haha.**

**Anyway, sorry for how hateable Vince is at the moment - I may try and rectify that in the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Was supposed to be doing my French coursework but this was calling to me, so I wrote it instead - will probably fail French now. Oh well, I only have myself to blame! And it's not like I'm going to live in France so, meh! **

**Hope you enjoy!!**

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Just seconds until he'd be onstage and that familiar wave of fear and nerves hit Howard like a ton of bricks. He felt sick. He could hear the few hundred people in the tent chatting away, waiting impatiently for the gig to begin. Though Howard had a horrible sinking feeling that they were only in the 'local talent tent' because it had started to rain again and that they were killing time until someone else played on one of the other stages. 'Oh well, no point worrying about that now' he thought. He took a deep breath and stepped out into the blinding lights. A few people clapped politely.

He nodded curtly and raised his saxophone to his lips. It was probably the best set Howard had ever played but that didn't stop the crowd booing after every song. His best improvised song ever earned him a near death experience, when a particularly rough looking punk threw a rock, which narrowly missed his head. Howard heard the trickle of laughter from the quickly diminishing crowd and looked up to see the faux-security guard holding his hand out to the punk for a high five.

Howard, however, knowing he'd had worse gigs than this, pressed bravely on. Just as he was about to begin playing again, Laura bustled on to the stage and, pushing Howard out her way, she strolled up to the microphone and said

"Hello everybody, hope this isn't _too_ terrible. Just to let you know, Vince Noir will be performing on the main stage in five minutes." and within seconds, the tent was empty. "Okay Harold. You can carry on now." she smiled, walking off the stage.

Howard looked around the empty tent. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'at least I'll still get paid'. There was no point in playing to an empty tent so he walked off stage and decided to go and watch Vince from the wings. Well, he had to go and see what everyone was so crazy about. Maybe he could pick up a few tips, too. He'd only stay for a few minutes.

Vince was halfway through his first song when Howard arrived and the older man felt his jaw drop. Vince looked incredible. He owned the stage like no one else on earth. He was so powerful, so in control. He could make the crowd do whatever he wanted. Currently, he had them jumping up and down in time to one of his countless number one hits that Howard had never heard of. Howard could only dream of being that famous and that popular.

He'd had to work so hard to get to where he was. And where was that? Poor, alone and hating his work. Where as with Vince, it all just came so easy and Howard realised that Vince was clearly born to do this. 'Right,' thought Howard as the song ended 'time to go home I think'. He turned to leave just as Vince spoke.

"Hey everyone!" Vince yelled, "Is it hot in here or is it just me?" There was a loud high pitched scream from the girls in the crowd. "No, seriously I think it's way to hot. Just wait there while I take this off." Howard span back round to see Vince pulling his shirt off over his head. Well, maybe he could stay for just one more song. "Yeah." Vince drawled through the microphone. "that feels much better. And hey, if there's any sexy girls out there who want to do the same… well, you wont here me complaining." he winked cheekily. "Right, this next song is called 'Artificial Colours'. Ready guys… 1,2,3,4!"

After almost an hour of mesmerising performance, Vince came off stage for his interval and walked straight into Howard.

"Hey." he whispered, "How did your Jazz thing go?"

"Yeah, not great." frowned Howard, "They all left half way through."

"What? why?"

"They went to watch you."

"Oh. Well, I suppose that was bound to happen."

"Yeah, you're amazing." Howard said without thinking and immediately blushed.

"I told you I'm the best." Vince said it so matter-of-factly that Howard almost laughed, but he managed to stop himself and say

"Yeah, but I thought you were being big headed.""No. I really am the best" Vince looked around to see if anyone was watching them, they weren't, so he traced a finger slowly down Howard's chest and added. "I'm good at other things to. Maybe later you can find out what they are." Howard swallowed hard. He went to speak but he couldn't get the words out. "Right, gotta go back out there. Wait here." grinned Vince, as he ran back out on stage to the screams and cheers erupting from the crowd. "Missed me?" he grinned, holding the microphone to his mouth.

What was actually only half an hour, but felt to Howard like hours later Vince walked off the stage grabbed Howard's hand and bolted for his dressing room shouting "Quick before the fans see me." As soon as the door shut, Vince launched himself at Howard, kissing him fervently.

"Sorry," he grinned when he pulled away. "I've been thinking about the whole time I was on stage."

"What?" gasped Howard.

"I want you Howard."

"But…"

"And I think you want me too."

"Well, I…" but his words were cut off by Vince's kiss again. Howard was so lost in the moment it took him a while to realise Vince's clever hands had worked their way to his belt and were unbuckling it deftly.

A sharp knock at the door made Vince leap back as though he'd been given an electric shock. "Vince!" screamed a girls voice "Oh my god! Vince are you in there?"

"I love you Vince."

"Vince Noir I love you."

"Vince! Will you marry me?"

"Vince I want your baby."

"Fans." frowned Vince, leaning back in to resume the kiss, but Howard turned to the sife so the smaller man connected with his cheek.

"Why are you so worried about being seen with me?"

"I'm not." Vince said, running a string of kisses along Howard's neck.

"You are." Howard said pushing him away. "You jump a mile when you think someone will see you kissing me. If you don't want to be seen, don't do it."

"There's two people involved in a kiss Howard." scorned Vince, "You make it sound like I'm forcing myself on you. It's okay though, I'll find someone else."

"No!" Howard cried instinctively.

"Told you, you wanted me." he grinned. Howard blushed.

Vince took this to mean it was okay and resumed his kiss with vigour. Howard kissed him back, almost desperately. He'd never needed anybody so much as he needed Vince now. He didn't want to feel like this, weak and vulnerable, but at the same time… it was exciting.

There was a sharp knock at the door and, once again, Vince jumped away like a frightened cat.

"Mr Noir" called the voice "Just to tell you, we've cleared those girls from earlier away. Sorry, if they disturbed you."

"To be honest with you, they're fine. You on the other hand are disturbing me."

"Oh sorry, sir."

Vince shook his head irritably. He looked at Howard and was about to say 'so, where were we?' when Howard said

"I just don't understand you Vince. You go on about girls all the way through your show. You've got hundreds of gorgeous girls at the door and you're here, with me and terrified of getting caught."

"Alright." admitted Vince. "My agent knows that I'm gay, but he says it'll be bad for my image if the fans find out so… well, I guess, I hide it."

"So are there's a series of men across the country, like me, who you…"

"No." interrupted Vince quietly. He sat down heavily on the chair and Howard thought he suddenly seeming much smaller and more real. He was no longer the overpowering rock god, he was a boy being forced to be someone he wasn't. "I haven't been with a man for a long time, since before I was famous. It's too much of a risk. But there's something about you." he said, standing up to touch the older mans face. "It's sorta… irresistible." he whispered. Howard blushed.

"I've got an idea." said Vince and within seconds had put on a large coat with a huge hood, which covered his face and the two men were pushing their way through the crowds of musicians, who were on there way to the after show party, and headed for the exit.

As they waited for the taxi, Vince, who was jiggling about nervously and fussing with his hood, pulling it further over his face every time someone walked past, asked "How far away do you live?"

"About ten minutes." said Howard, checking his watch. Where was that taxi? Eventually, the taxi arrived and the two men clambered in. As soon as Howard had given the address, Vince straddled him resuming hiss furious kissing from earlier.

"Oi!" shouted the driver, banging on the glass divider. "Not in my cab you don't."

"Oh, shut the hell up." said Vince.

-----

Vince woke up with a horrible crick in his neck. He hadn't bothered to complain last night (he'd been far too distracted) but Howard's 'bed', which was actually just a mattress on the floor with a blanket thrown over it, was not really what the rock-prince was accustomed to. No wonder his neck was hurting.

Then, he heard the sound of raised voices in the next room and, realising this was probably what had woken him up, he listened intently.

"What do you mean your busy?" shrieked a shrill voice. Who was that?

"Shhh," hissed a voice, Vince recognised immediately as Howard "Keep your voice down."

"Why should I?! It's not like anyone else is here. I come round to _try_ and apologise and find out how your show went and your just blanking me." It was a girl. His girlfriend?

"I'm not blanking you." sighed Howard, "Maybe I could meet you for a coffee later."

"You trying to get rid of me?"

"No."

"You are! Why?" Behind the door Vince was growing steadily more angry. Howard had a girlfriend, typical. If there was one thing Vince didn't like it was being hidden and he certainly wasn't going to be Howard's mistake. If anything, Vince should be embarrassed by Howard. He was already beginning to regret what they'd done. What if Howard went to the papers? Or what if this girlfriend did? Oh well, he'd worry about them later, right now, he wanted to ruin Howard's relationship.

"I'm not hiding anything." lied Howard, just as Vince opened the door and appeared, wearing nothing but boxer shorts and yawning (so he looked as though he'd just woken up).

"Alright." he said, smiling cruelly at the girl, who, he was surprised to find, was smirking back at him. "What's going on lover? I heard shouting."

Howard groaned loudly, visibly embarrassed. "Alice, this is Vince. Vince this is my sister Alice."'Oh,' thought Vince, feeling suddenly stupid.

Alice's jaw dropped "Oh my god!" she screamed "You're Vince Noir!"

"See, she knows who I am."

"You know who he is?"

"Everyone knows who he is…"

"Told you." said Vince smugly.

"…but why is he here?" she continued, "Oh my god. Did you? I mean did you two? Howard, did you sleep with Vince Noir?" Howard looked at the floor, embarrassedly. "Vince Noir! Vince Noir, Britain's most sought after bachelor, slept with my brother! You wait till I tell Jenny, she's got the biggest crush on you." she told Vince."Please don't tell anyone." Vince begged, suddenly losing his cool. "My agent doesn't want the fans to know I like men. It'll put all my girl fans off. It'll probably ruin me. Please don't say anything.."

"Fine." sulked Alice, "I wont say anything. I can't believe Vince Noir is gay, well… I mean I can, you look it. But you're always sleeping with models and tarts off the telly and that woman who…"

"It's freezing in here" interrupted Vince, blushing a little. "Can we put the heating on?"

"There is no heating." explained Alice, "He can't pay the bills."

"What?!" exclaimed Vince "How do you survive?"

"Barely." said Alice.

"Why don't you butt out?" Howard snapped at Alice "And Vince, if you put some clothes on and you wouldn't be so cold."

"Oooo, temper, temper." giggled Vince, "Anyway, I don't remember you complaining about my lack of clothes last night. In fact, you couldn't wait to get them off me."

Howard turned a vibrant shade of red, which made Alice laugh.

"Don't you need to be somewhere?" he hissed at her.

"Nope." she grinned, clearly enjoying himself. "So, Vince."

"mm?"

"Just how drunk were you before you decided Howard was a good idea?"

"I wasn't drunk" laughed Vince, sauntering over to Howard and wrapping his arms around his waste. It was time for Vince's attempt at getting rid of Alice. "I happen to find your brother incredibly sexy, and he's bloody good in bed. He's like an animal," Vince gave a tacky growl. " he's so powerful and…"

"D'you know what?" Alice cut in "I do actually have somewhere else to be."

"Thought you might." smirked Vince, watching as Alice practically bolted for the door, miming 'ring me' to her brother.

"So" smiled Howard, once she'd gone. "What do you want to do today?"

"Actually," Vince said apologetically slipping from Howard's arms. "I've got places to be and people to see. In fact," he looked at his watch. "I'm already late for an interview. But I'll come back and see you later, if I can." he reached up and placed a gentle kiss on Howard's cheek, before running quickly to get dressed. When he'd gone Howard felt lost and alone. He didn't know when he'd next see Vince but he hoped it was soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Noir Rocks Leeds**

Once again, Vince Noir stole the show at the recent Leeds Festival. His performance has even been described as 'the greatest display of showmanship this side of Jesus'. We tried to talk to Noir at the after show party but he was nowhere to be found, however we did manage to catch up with him the next day.

_Vince. Congratulations on, yet another, fantastic show. People are literally running out of superlatives to describe you, what__'__s it like being the best?_

V: (grins) It's pretty good. I like it when I meet people I looked up to as a kid. I always used to look at their posters on my wall and think 'one day you'll want to be me' and now… they do.

_You weren__'__t at the after show, where were you?_

V: Hotel room

_What does Vince Noir do to celebrate such a success if he__'__s not at a party?_

V: Well, I wasn't alone in that room, put it that way.

_Celebrating with a special lady friend?_

V: Several. It was a pretty wild night.

"Liar" snarled Alice under her breath, slamming her magazine on the table. So that a few other people in the café looked around.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Howard.

"Vince Noir. He's a scumbag." she hissed. "Quite hot though." she added, as she turned the page to reveal a picture of the topless rock star, hands above his head, staring menacingly down the camera.

"Let me see." Howard said eagerly, scrabbling for the magazine.

"Get lost, you've seen it live!"

"Shut up." Howard hissed, leaning back in his chair sullenly. "I can't believe he didn't come back."

"I can." muttered Alice, still looking at the picture, "He's a man-whore."

"He's not."

"Are you serious? Have you not read about him in the papers?"

"I didn't even know who he was until a week ago."

"When you slept with him."

"Shhhh. People might hear you."

"Here." she sighed, passing him her magazine. "Read that."

Howard skimmed the entire article including the bit where Vince confessed he'd 'never been truly in love and was searching for the right girl', agreed to 'go on a date with the winner of this weeks competition' and denied his playboy title even though he admitted he 'couldn't even begin to estimate the number of girls he'd slept with'.

Howard shut the magazine angrily.

"See," said Alice "You're just another name on the exceedingly long list who've fallen victim to the Noir-charm."

"But he said I was special, that I was… irresistible."

"I bet he says that to everyone, he's not a nice person." Then, noticing the hurt look on her brothers face she added softly. "Oh don't look so upset, you were seduced. Forget about it. It was just nice to see you back in the game."

"What game?"

"I was beginning to think you'd taken an oath of celibacy."

"Shut up."

"Well, as far as I can see it's been a long time."

"I've been busy."

"Doing what?"

"Stuff." Howard retaliated limply.

Alice raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. It's been a long time." scowled Howard "But, I felt something with Vince, that… connection."

"God Howard, someone shows you the slightest bit of affection and you're all over them like ants on a picnic. Vince has gone. Forget him. Move on. He has." she added, glancing down a picture of Vince with his arm round some supermodel. Looking up, she grinned "Hey, don't look now but the man behind the counter is eyeing you up. I said don't look." she frowned, as Howard peered, none too subtly, over his shoulder at the attractive waiter, who winked back at him. Howard shivered.

"I'm not interested."

He wanted striking; not attractive. He wanted excitement; not pleasant. He wanted Vince; not some waiter.

--

After the coffee, Howard had wanted to go straight home but Alice had insisted they go to see a film and, after that, because Howard still hadn't cheered up, she decided they had to spend the remainder of the day at the park, saying "It does you good to get out of that stupid flat."

"I like my flat."

"Yeah, but you mope around it 24/7. You say you're practising your music…"

"I am." this wasn't totally a lie, he did practise his jazz… sometimes, when he wasn't thinking about Vince.

"… but whenever I come over, your sax is tucked away in the corner. This will be fun." she beamed, slipping her arm through his and practically dragging him to the park.

Why couldn't she just let him be miserable?

--

Eventually, after what should have been an enjoyable day but turned out to be utter torture, Alice let Howard go home. Howard unlocked the door. He trudged in miserably and looked around the empty room.

"Home, crap, home." he sighed. Then as he kicked off his shoes he saw a piece of white card on the floor by his door. He picked it up and read the scrawly writing on the back.

_Hi_

_Sorry, I didn__'__t come back and see you last week.  
__I had so much on, you know, with the music and  
__all. And I haven__'__t been back in Yorkshire since.  
__I dropped around to see you, but you weren__'__t there.  
__obviously, hence this note. Anyway, my number__'__s  
at __the bottom._

_Give me a ring.  
__Vince x_

Howard ran straight for the phone and dialled the number. Then, realising if he rang now, he'd seem more than desperate, he replaced the receiver and tried to find something else to occupy his time. He took out his saxophone and played for a while but after hitting another bum note, he gave up. His mind wasn't on the music anyway. His eyes kept flicking to Vince's note and after a while the temptation became too much. He punched in the number and dialled. After an agonisingly long time, the ringing stopped and loud, tinny music flooded the receiver. Sounded like Vince was in a club.

"_Hello!_" yelled the voice.

"Vince?"

"_Yeah, who is this?_"

"Erm, Howard. Howard Moon."

"_Oh, hey__…__ can you hang on a sec? It__'__s really loud in here._"

"Okay." Howard waited. His stomach was doing somersaults, his palms were clammy and his throat was dry. He was nervous and excited all at once, the exact feeling he got just before he was about to go on stage. Suddenly, he realised there was a voice coming from the receiver.

"_Howard! Hoooooward!_ _Are you there? Howard!_"

"Y-yeah, I'm here."

"_I thought you__'__d hung up on me. How are you?_"

"I'm fine. You?"

"_Yeah, I__'__m good… I dropped by earlier, but you know that because you__'__ve read my note._" he chuckled, feebly.

"Yeah. Umm, what's the party for?"

"_We__'__re celebrating me. It__'__s pretty much a party dedicated to how brilliant I am._"

"How very you." muttered Howard, over the last week he'd managed to forget how, arrogant and conceited Vince actually was.

"_You should come._"

"What?!"

"_Yeah, I mean it__'__s only in Morley. It__'__ll take you about ten minutes._"

"Umm…"

"_Come on. Oh wait, hang on._" Howard strained his ears to listen carefully to the half conversation. "_Hey Karly__…__ No, I__'__m not on the phone to a girl. You know I__'__m here with you, tonight__'__s all about us baby__…__ Alright, I__'__ll be two minutes__. __So Howard, you gonna come down?_"

"No." Howard said angrily.

"_What?!_" Vince exclaimed.

"Why don't you just go and get 'Karly'?"

"_Oh Howard. She__'__s just a groupie. And you know my__…__ situation. I__'__ve gotta make her think she__'__s in with a chance._"

"Yeah, but I don't want to have to watch you flirt with all these people."

"_You don't own me._" Vince said, sounding suddenly annoyed "_Come if you want to, if not, well, don__'__t bother. I__'__m Vince Noir. I don__'__t have to chase you, I went out of my way to come back and see you, surely that should show you that I__'__m not messing you about._"

Dial tone.

Howard put the receiver down and kicked the wall hard. He immediately regretted it as the pain shot through his foot. He sat down on the floor, clutching his throbbing toes and fully intending not to go. But, in the back of his mind, there was a voice, which possibly sounded a bit like Vince's, saying "You know you're going to go. You can't resist him."

And, even though Howard hated himself for it, it wasn't long before he was forking out the money for a taxi and heading for the party.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Gotta Be Somebody - Nickelback do!**

_**

* * *

**_

Howard got out of the taxi nervously. He straightened his clothes, (the outfit Vince had given him) and strolled more confidentially than he felt into the club. As soon as the door shut, he felt completely out of place. Teenagers and important looking music executives were generally trying to grab attention by drinking too much and dancing to song Howard had never heard of.

_This time I wonder what it feels like  
To find the one in this life  
The one we all dream of  
But dreams just aren't enough _

He pushed past a few glittery teenagers. Blinded by too much colour and fancy, over-the-top outfits. This room was full of hundreds of people trying desperately hard to be cool, but somewhere, someone in the room was effortlessly cool. Howard searched the sea of wannabe's for the only man he cared about.

_So I´ll be waiting for the real thing.  
I'll know it by the feeling  
The moment when we´re meeting  
We'll play out like a scene straight off the silver screen  
So I`ll be holdin' my breath  
Right up to the end  
Until that moment when  
I find the one that I'll spend forever with _

Suddenly, a drunk girl stumbled straight into him.

"Hello," she slurred "I haven't seen you before."

"Yes, I don't believe we've met."

"No, I'd remember an arse as… sexy as yours." she said, squeezing it.

"Yeah, I'm actually looking for Vince Noir."

"We're all looking for Vince Noir." she laughed.

_`Cause nobody wants to be the last one there.  
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares.  
Someone to love with my life in their hands.  
There`s gotta be somebody for me like that_.

Howard finally shook off the girl and continued his search for Vince. He soon found him, sat in a corner sucking face with a young woman (probably Karly.) Howard wanted to run away. He wanted to curl up in a corner and cry, but what right did he have. He didn't own Vince, but he knew, or at least hoped, Vince would be imagining this girl was Howard.

_Cause nobody wants to go it on their own  
And everyone wants to know they´re not alone  
Somebody else that feels the same somewhere  
There`s gotta be somebody for me out there. _

Howard strolled over calmly, walked up behind Vince and coughed loudly. Vince broke the kiss and turned around.

"You came!" he grinned, jumping up and hugging Howard enthusiastically.

"I did." Howard laughed, he could help himself. He was so happy to see the small rocker again, if he hadn't laugh he'd have probably cried.

"I knew you would." Vince said confidently. "This is Karly by the way."

"Oh, the groupie." smiled Howard. Vince's eyes widened with horror and mimed 'you're not supposed to say that to her face.'

"Actually," Karly said huffily "I'm his girlfriend. Aren't I Vince? Tell him."

"Course you are babe. Go and get me a drink, will you? Me and Howard need to talk business."

"Oh you're in the industry. I didn't think you fitted in at the party." she giggled, as she skipped off to the bar with Vince tapping her on the arse as she passed him. "Come on." he said to Howard, "Let's go outside."

_Tonight out on the street out in the moonlight  
And damn it this feels too right  
It´s just like Déjà Vu  
Me standin' here with you__'Cause nobody wants to go it on their own  
And everyone wants to know they´re not alone  
Is there somebody else that feels the same somewhere?  
There`s gotta be somebody for me out there_

So I´ll be holdin`my breath  
Could this be the end?  
Is it that moment when  
I find the one that I spend forever with?

'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there  
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares.  
Someone to love with my life in their hands.  
There´s gotta be somebody for me like that.

You can´t give up!  
When you're Lookin´ for a diamond in the rough  
Because you never know when it shows up  
Make sure you´re holdin` on  
'Cause it could be the one, the one you´re waiting on

The door shut behind them and the music stopped. Vince and Howard strolled down the road in a comfortable silence until they came to a bench. Howard sat down but Vince decided to stay standing so that he could twirl around, showing off his sparkly outfit

"So, how do I look?" he beamed.

"Great." Howard said sulkily.

"I'm glad you came tonight."

"Yeah."

"This party _was_ supposed to be in London but I got it moved so that you could come."

"Oh."

"You're not very talkative."

"Mmm.""What's up?"

"How would you feel if you saw me kissing a girl?" Howard said angrily.

"Dunno." shrugged Vince, sitting down next to Howard. "It's not going to happen is it so…"

"No, but would you care? Do you care about me? Or am I just another name on your list of victims?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Vince, resting his hand on Howard's knee "I like you Howard. That's why I'm here. And you like me, which is why you're here and…" He trailed off, getting distracted by something over Howard's shoulder. He muttered under his breath. "Crap!"

"What is it?"

"Right, stand up." he ordered, without moving his lips. "Shake my hand and walk away. Go to the address"

"Huh? What address?"

"Just do it. And don't look back."

"Why?"

"I'll explain later." And with that he stood up and held out his hand. Howard followed suit. He took Vince's hand, shook it and walked away.

As he walked around the corner, he looked down at his hand into which Vince had pushed a crumpled piece of paper. It read:

_Room 31  
42 The Calls_

It took Howard a while to realise that it was a hotel address and even longer to get there, spending yet more money he didn't have on a taxi. When he arrived, he couldn't believe what he saw. It was the most beautiful building he'd ever laid eyes on. It was right on the river and surrounded by people who looked like they had more money that sense. There was classy gold and red interior with old fashioned wooden stair cases and painting on the wall worth more than Howard's entire life savings. Howard had never been anywhere so impressive. This was a long way from the carpet-less flat he slummed in.

"Good evening, sir. Can I help you?" asked the receptionist.

"Umm, yes. I've booked a room here."

"Okay. What name the room was booked under?"

"Ummm, probably Vince Noir."

"Very funny, sir. We're all Vince Noir." the woman politely but Howard could sense she was angry, which made him blush. "What's your name please, sir?"

"Howard Moon."

"Howard Moon." she said, typing it into her computer. "Ah yes, room 31. Two adults, double bed. Is that right?" Oh my god! Howard's brain screamed. He knew this was going to happen. He knew you were going to come here.

"Erm, yeah. I think that's right." Howard said calmly.

"Excellent. Here's the key. If you want room service just phone 9 and the prices for the mini bar are on the inside of the door."

"Thank you very much." smiled Howard, taking the key and walking to the lift.

The room was beautifully decorated. The bed was huge and soft and Howard sank into it before turning on the TV. Then the waiting began. He was nervous and excited. He had no idea what was going to happen when Vince arrived, well, he had a fair idea of _what_ would happen, but he didn't know when Vince was going to turn up and he knew that whenever it was, it wouldn't be soon enough. He decided to take advantage of the mini bar and the satellite TV but not even 'Jazz TV' could distract him from thinking about Vince.

Almost two hours later, there was a knock at the door. Howard's heart skipped beat. His stomach flipped with anticipation. He jumped off the bed and walked to the door, fixing his hair as he went.

The door was barely opened before Vince barged in and jumped on Howard wrapping his legs around his waste and kissing him furiously. Howard used his free hand, (that wasn't supporting Vince) to shut the door and then he staggered awkwardly to the bed sat down on it so that the rock star was sat on his lap. "Sorry I took so long." breathed Vince, ripping Howard's shirt off and running a trail of kissed across his chest. "Karly wouldn't let me go and then the paparazzi followed me, but I think I lost them." He explained, pushing the older man backwards, so that he could unbutton his trousers.

"What if you didn't?" asked Howard.

"Screw it." said Vince, breathlessly, sliding up Howard's body to bring his face inline with the older mans. "I couldn't wait any longer." he leant in to kiss him. "I had to see you." he mumbled against his lips. Then he disappeared again and began to fumble with Howard's belt.

"Vince?" Howard said nervously.

"Mmm?"

"What are we doing?"

"Well, I'd have thought that was pretty obvious." Vince grinned cheekily, resting his chin on Howard's stomach and gazing at the bigger man with intense, luring eyes.

"No, I mean. Where are we going? What is this?"

"You wanna have this conversation now?" groaned Vince, rolling off Howard so that he landed flat on his back next to him.

"Yeah." Howard nodded. "I want to know where I stand."

"I can't believe I just raced here and now we're just going to have 'the talk'. I hate 'the talk'. Why do we have to define us? Why can't we just have fun?"

"It's not fun for me."

Vince, propping himself up on his elbow, fixed Howard with a look of disbelief.

"I mean, who's Karly?" continued Howard.

"I told you. She's a groupie."

"She said she was your girlfriend."

"Yeah, she won some competition in Cheekbone or something. I had to go on a date with her."

"That's a pretty rubbish date." smirked Howard "You left her in the middle of it to meet me."

"Yeah I did" said Vince, seriously. "She was mental though, she was convinced we were in love."

"You hardly knew her." laughed Howard "You can't fall in love with someone you hardly know."

Vince suddenly gave a very forced laugh and blushed furiously, saying "No, of course not."

"Why did you book the room under my name?"

Vince shrugged. "I needed a name and I kinda hoped I'd be coming here with you."

"But if it wasn't me, you'd have come here with someone?"

"Well, yeah."

"Karly?"

"Probably." Vince said offhandedly, getting up and walking to the mini-bar. He took out a bottle of beer.

"You really are a man-whore, aren't you?"

"Well, it's hard not to be when you're slightly repulsed by everyone you sleep with." he explained taking a swig from the bottle. "My agent keeps telling me to try and find a girl but I can't. I sleep with these beautiful woman but there's always something wrong and I certainly don't want to see them again."

"So, just tell everyone your gay."

"I can't. I've told you that."

"But…"

"Look Howard, I'm here now, aren't I?" he retorted, slamming the bottle down. "In fact, I don't know what's come over me. I usually sleep with someone and ditch them. I've never worked so hard to meet up with someone in my life. I didn't have to do all this but I did. Surely, that means something."

"I don't want to share you." Howard whispered bitterly. "I don't care that I hardly know you. I don't like thinking about you with other people." He raised his head and looked Vince right in the eye. They just stared for a while and then Vince sighed.

"Fine." he said quietly.

"What?"

"Fine. I won't sleep with other people."

"Or kiss them?"

"Or kiss them." nodded Vince. Then he said "Flaming hell Howard. You don't half drive a hard bargain. This is why I never see anyone more than once." Howard smiled at him.

"This is a big step for you, isn't it?"

"Howard, in my world. This is the equivalent of getting married." Howard's eye's were suddenly filled with fear, which made Vince laugh. "Oh chill out. I'm definitely not clingy." he said.

"I know that." Howard said resentfully. "Why didn't you get in touch for a week?"

Vince shrugged and mumbled "Busy."

"Too busy to phone?"

"I didn't have your number, though I don't think I'd have rung you if I did. I was too scared."

"Scared?"

"Yeah, by how much I liked you." he said, walking over to the bed and cuddling up to the other man.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Vince nodded, fixing the other man with his magnificent blue eyes. This terrifies me Howard."

"Me too." smiled Howard, putting a finger under Vince's chin and pulling it up so he could kiss him.

"Now," he smirked "Unless there's anything else you want to discuss, can we get back to business?"

* * *

**Shwmae!**

**I've been really ill all day (feel sorry for me) and I've literally only been able to watch DVDs and write this! And as if being ill isn't bad enough, my mum decided TODAY would be the day she'd buy a big chocolate cake, which I now can't eat because I feel so rubbish!**

**So, I'm now in a bad mood - reviews will cheer me up. Especially, if they come with a virtual cutch. That'd be lovely! =]**

**Love ya all!  
****Sisi…xx**


	6. Chapter 6

The golden sun, streamed through the gap in the curtains landing directly on Howard's sleeping face, stirring him from his slumber. He sat up slowly, rubbed his eyes and looked around the room. It took him a while to work out where he was and then he realised… Vince was gone. He jumped out of bed and searched the room thoroughly. Although it was clear he'd already left. Then Howard realised what had happened. Vince had lied. He'd lied to get Howard to sleep with him and then ditched him, exactly what he said he did to everyone.

He'd been taken in, once again, by the Noir charm. He was just about to ring Alice and gnaw her ear off about how rubbish his life was when there was a knock on the door. Vince? Had he just gone out to get more food? He'd devoured everything in the mini-bar last night, claiming "sex always makes me hungry".

Howard rushed to the door and opened it. He was disappointed to find himself greeted by a waiter, who held out a silver tray and said "Room service."

"But I didn't order…"

"It's a special order."

"From who?"

"You tell me."

"It's probably Vince. I think he's pretty romantic deep down."

The waiter's eyes lit up and he peered around the room.

"Did you two sleep here last night?"

"Yeah." said Howard offhandedly, taking the tray and placing and on the table.

"Excellent." beamed the waiter, holding his hand out for a tip.

"Oh," said Howard flustered, looking around desperately for change. "Sorry, I haven't got any money on me."

"Never mind sir. I've got everything I need. Enjoy your breakfast."

The door clicked shut and Howard turned his attention to the tray. Full English breakfast, toast, orange juice and a note:

_Morning,  
__Had to go for an interview. (I__'__m  
__on channel two now) I recon  
__they__'__ll have double the viewings  
__figures because of me. I__'__ve got  
__to go back to London this evening  
__but I__'__ll try and call in at your flat  
__before I go.  
__V xxx_

Howard took a piece of toast and munched on, whilst flicking through the channel's until he found the interview.

"And now," announced the presenter "it's the moment we're all been waiting for, it's Vince Noir."

"Hey." grinned Vince, waving boyishly at the camera.

"Looking a bit tired there Vince, big night last night?"

"Yeah, I went to a pretty big party, basically dedicated to how fantastic I am."

"We've actually got a few pictures of you from that party. Now, explain that." laughed the presenter, as a picture flashed up of Vince and Howard sat on the bench, Vince's hand firmly on the other man's knee.

"I couldn't even begin to" laughed Vince, leaning forward so that his hair covered his blushing cheeks. "I mean, that's Howard. He's working on the production of my new album 'Prince of Camden' out on the 24th November."

"Nice plug."

"Thanks," Vince grinned "God, look at that photo, it looks like I'm trying to feel him up. Hey, maybe I am. I'm probably trying to get a better deal."

"And what about this photo?" asked the presenter as the next photo flashed up.

"Believe it or not I think that's supposed to be a dance move. But to be honest it looks like I'm violating that bar stool. God. What am i doing? But hey if it pulls in the chicks, who cares? Though I probably wont try that dance on stage." he laughed. "Oh and that" he continued as the next image flashed up "is me and Karly."

"Is Karly your girlfriend?"

"No, I'm not seeing anyone at the moment." Howard felt as though someone had stuck a knife through his gut and was twisting in painfully.

"She said she was your girlfriend."

"She ain't. I don't like to limit myself to just one girl." Howard winced at every word. He wanted to turn off the TV. He knew… No, he hoped that Vince was just putting on an act and that he didn't believe what he was saying. But Howard still didn't like to hear it.

"You didn't go home alone last night though, did you?"

"Of course not." smirked Vince.

"You were with her?"

"Yeah."

"You can understand then Vince, if you're going to mess about with these young girls like this why she may think she was your girlfriend?"

"I suppose." shrugged Vince, looking like a child who was being told off.

"Okay, let's talk music…"

Howard flicked the TV off, finished the remainder of his breakfast and went home, after being phoned four times by reception, who were gradually less pleasant about asking him to leave. All the way home he had a horrible feeling someone was following him, but he shook it off. He rang Alice as soon as he got back to his flat and excitedly told her that he and Vince were officially 'together'.

"_It ain__'__t that official. Did you see his interview this morning? He spent the night with some girl named Karly_."

"No he didn't."

"_That__'__s what he said_"

"He lied."

"_How do you know?_"

"Because he spent the night with me!" Howard cried. Alice was silent and after a few moments she replied cynically.

"_Don__'__t let him break your heart._"

--

Late that evening, Howard received a text message from Vince:

**Sent: 8:26**

**Date: 9/11/2009**

**Sender: Vince**

Serious problem. Can't  
come 2 the flat. Paparazzi  
R all over me. Going str8  
2 London. C U soon.  
Lv Vince xxx

Feeling hurt and disappointed and with more than a distinct feeling of déjà vu, he went to bed. Wondering if that note was perhaps just the final part of the Vince Noir experience and then, you never hear from him again.

--

The next morning, Howard was woken by a loud, frantic banging on the door. He got up and padded sleepily over to open it. No sooner had his hand gone to the lock, Alice exploded through the door her arms full of magazines and newspapers, which she promptly dumped in the middle of his living room.

"What are you doing here?" he frowned.

"Your 'friend'" she said, doing irritating air quotations "is in some serious trouble."

"What?! Why?!"

"Look at this." she said picking out a magazine at random. Howard looked at the cover and his heart sank. A picture of Vince, commanding the stage, looking beautiful, as usual and next to it a picture of Howard leaving the hotel the morning before. The headline read:

**Vince Noir Spends Night with Older Gay Gentleman.**

"and this." she said, handing another magazine with two similar pictures.

**Noir Gay?**

"and this."

**Exclusive interview with Noir****'****s ex-girlfriend Karly. She tells us how she could always tell Vince was gay.**

"But this is the worst one." said Alice, passing him the copy of 'Cheekbone'

**Vince Noir Forks Out Thousands For Special Night With Harold Moon.**

"They got my name wrong."

"Not really the point."

"How did this happen?" breathed Howard, running his hands through his hair exasperated as he looked around the room at all the other magazines with similar stories on the front page.

"I don't know but Cheekbone have quoted you."

"What?!" Howard skimmed the article quickly.

Vince Noir, 27, abandoned aspiring model and competition winner, Karly Fox, 19, for washed up music producer Harold Moon, 55.

"I'm not 55! Or a music producer!"

"Read!"

Noir has so far refused to comment on the possibility that he is gay. Though Moon, after admitting they'd spent the night together, told our reporter that Noir is 'pretty romantic deep down'.

"I never spoke to a reporter. I'd never go to the papers. I wouldn't betray him like that."

"Keep reading."

This probably refers to the penthouse suite Noir spent hundreds on to make his evening with Moon extra special. We already knew he was sexy, talented and rich but now we discover he's also incredibly romantic. The perfect man. But, like most perfect men, he bats for the other team.

"I can't believe this." gasped Howard, the magazine falling from his limp fingers. "How did they find out? How did this happen?"

"Well, you weren't exactly careful, were you? You got snapped on the bench together. Vince got snapped entering and leaving the hotel, you got snapped leaving the hotel. And at some point you admitted to a total stranger that Vince was… what was the quote 'pretty romantic deep down'. How stupid are you?"

"Oh God! He's going to hate me."

"Nope worse, he's going to deny you."

"What d'you mean?"

"This is his career on the line Howard." she said gently, rubbing his arm. "He's got to choose between you and well… everything else and he's only known you two weeks."

Howard knew deep down she was probably right but, like many things about Vince, he didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to think that Vince and his 'people' were going to spin some lie and that he'd never hear from the rock star again. Howard sat down heavily on the floor and said tearfully

"I really liked him, Al."

"I know." she said softly, sitting down beside him.

"I'm so stupid, he's _so_ wrong for me."

"Well, I can't argue with you there."

"I just wanna see him again. I need to apologise." he said, choking back his tears.

"You've got nothing to apologize for, he brought this on himself."

"I… it's… I can't…" Howard blubbered.

"I'll get us a cup of tea and then we'll talk."

Howard nodded, a silent tear running down his face. He was such a failure. In work, in life and now, in love. Everything he touched turned to crap. He'd even managed to curse Britain's most loved golden boy.


	7. Chapter 7

**This was going to be one really long chapter but then I thought it may be better as two - so now you get two chapters; lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) you!**

* * *

A knock on the door distracted Howard from his thoughts. He tied up his dressing gown, dried his eyes and opened the door. Immediately, he was blinded by flashes. He had microphones shoved under his nose and questions shouted at him from every angle.

"Harold. What's it like to be the man who turned Vince Noir gay?"

"When did you know he was gay?"

"How many times have you slept together?"

"Will you pose semi-naked?" - that was 'The Sun'.

Howard slammed the door and backed away, shaking with anger and confusion. He looked up to see Alice on the phone.

"Umm, yeah here he is now." she said solemnly, passing the receiver over.

"Hello?"

"Harold Moon?" barked the voice.

"Howard, yeah. Who's this?"

"Frank. Frank Bennett, I'm Vince Noir's agent."

"Oh, hello." Howard said, the need to cry building up inside him again.

"Don't 'hello' me. This isn't about niceties. This about getting this sorry mess sorted out once and for all. Basically Harold, you see Vince again and I'll make your life a living hell."

"It already is." muttered Howard.

"You so much as phone him and I'll make sure you don't get a job in the music industry ever again. And if you go to the papers, well, I'll…" Frank stopped and Howard heard another voice cut in, in the background.

"_Frank, what're you doing?_"

"Nothing, I'm on the phone securing you an interview. Then you can explain to the world that you were drunk and don't remember anything about this disastrous night with Harold flaming Moon."

"_It's Howard! How hard is that to remember? And anyway, I don't want to tell everyone I was drunk. Stop trying to hide who I am, Frank!_"

"This'll ruin you Vince."

"_Well, if they're really my fans they'll accept me. Being gay didn't do George Michael any harm. I think you're just homophobic._"

"How dare you! I was supportive of you when you told me what you were."

"_Supportive! You made me keep it a secret._"

"I was doing you a favour!"

"Umm, Hello." Howard called, trying to get the attention of Frank. "Excuse me." But he went unheard as the agent's booming voice drowned out all other sound as he said

"Why are you in here anyway?"

"_I was going to use that phone because I've been trying to ring Howard all morning and I can't get through, I don't think my mobile's got any signal._"

"What d'you want to ring him for?"

"HELLO!" Howard called again.

"_What was that?_" asked Vince.

"What was what?"

"_That shouting down the phone. No business executives shouts down a phone. They're all boring as hell. Who are you talking to? And why did you sound like you were threatening them?… That better not be Howard._"

"It's not."

"_It is!_" Howard heard Vince gasp. Then there was a lot of loud rustling and Howard had to hold the phone away from his ear.

"What's going on?" mouthed Alice.

"I think Vince is trying to get the phone off Frank." frowned Howard, bringing the phone back to his ear just as Vince said.

"Howard?"

"Yeah, yeah it's me."

"Oh thank god. I really need to apologize."

"What?" Howard asked, completely confused. Wasn't it Howard who given an 'interview' to Cheekbone? Isn't it Howard who should be apologizing?

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I should have known the paparazzi had followed me. Actually, I think I did know, I just… didn't care. Not at the time anyway."

"I never went to the magazines." blurted Howard.

"What? Oh, no. I know. The guy who brought you breakfast was a reporter. The hotel rang me yesterday evening to apologize for letting him in, that's when Frank insisted we go back to London. But it definitely wasn't your fault. If I was just honest about who I am, none of this would have happened." There was an uncomfortable silence where neither of them knew what to say. Then Vince spoke again "I'm going to come and see you."

"_WHAT!?_" yelled Frank, in the background.

"What?!" spluttered Howard "What about your career?"

"Don't worry, it'll be fine."

"But you've only known me a couple of weeks."

"Yeah, well like I said… we're virtually married." he chuckled confidently.

"_Vince you're making a serious mistake you're supposed to be staying out of the papers_" bellowed Frank.

"The papers are outside my house." added Howard

"Ignore Frank."

"_Don't bloody ignore me._"

"And who cares about the papers? Everyone knows now anyway."

"_That's not the attitude._"

"Actually," continued Vince, completely blanking Frank. "Why don't you come down here? My house is a lot nicer, obviously. And it would be better if I was in London when the album comes out in two weeks."

"Two weeks?"

"Yeah, I'd like you to move in…"

"_you what!?_"

"...for a while anyway, or for as long as you want to. There's plenty of room."

Howard, who'd never done impulsive in his life, suddenly had a strong urge to just go for it. Opportunities like this didn't come along often for people like Howard.

"Okay," he said, "I'll move in." Alice's jaw dropped.

"Great!" Vince virtually cheered.

"_Did he say yes? He better not have said yes!_"

"I'll be there this evening."

"You gonna arrive by train?"

"_He's not going to arrive at all._"

"Yeah."

"I'll meet you there then."

"_You wont._"

"What about the paparazzi?"

"Don't worry we'll give them a big performance."

"Okay." laughed Howard, wondering what the other man had in mind. "See you later."

"Bye."

Howard winced as he heard the beginnings of a vicious argument erupt at the other end. He put the phone down and turned to smile at Alice, who looked back at him with an expression of pride and bewilderment and cried "You've known him two weeks!"

"I know but it just… feels right."

"And you said you were too old to chase dreams." she smiled.

"Never." he grinned back, kissing her on the cheek and running to his back his suitcase calling. "Ring me a taxi."

Within ten minutes he'd packed his bag and was ready to leave.

"Come here.I'm so proud of you." Alice said tearfully, pulling him into a big bear hug. "Now," she said pushing him away "Go. Enjoy. Have fun!"

"I will." he beamed, and then he was gone.

---

The papers followed him relentlessly, every time Howard changed trains there were people pointing at him and muttering things like 'Is that him? Is that Noir's lover?'. Other people were chasing him taking photos and one girl had even tried to attack him screaming"I hate you! Vince loves me. He loves me!" Howard began to wonder if this was the life he wanted but when the train drew into the final station and he saw Vince stood on the platform, he realised this was definitely the life he wanted. He picked up his suitcase and pushed past everyone on the carriage until he was first at the door.

"Come on." he muttered, as the door took an age to open. As soon as the gap was big enough for him, he pushed through and jumped the small gap to the platform. There was a circle of people gathered around Vince. Many of them with cameras or phones, ready to capture the moment they reunited and Vince, always the entertainer, wasn't about to disappoint his fans.

As soon as he saw Howard, he ran down the platform at breakneck speed and leapt on him, forcing the older man to drop his suitcase. Howard felt a little uncomfortable knowing he was being watched by so many people but he was soon swept away with the moment and span Vince around before setting him back gently on the ground. Vince kept his arms around Howard's neck and Howard knew that everyone was watching them. There were camera flashes from everywhere and then Vince grinned.

"You wanna give them what they're waiting for?" he asked.

Howard frowned and was about to ask 'What?' when Vince closed the gap between them and kissed him. It was the sweetest kiss they'd ever shared. Every other kiss had been passionate and full of intent, always leading somewhere. But this was full of feeling and tenderness and Howard thought this was much better. He was vaguely aware of people wolf whistling and more photo's being taken, but he didn't care. This moment, although it could have been taken straight out of one of those cheesy romantic films, was perfect.

Vince pulled away and beamed up at the other man, his eyes shining brightly.

"Lets go home." he grinned.

_

* * *

_

**I'm not really sure if the phone conversation is very clear. If not, let me know and I'll change it. (Maybe it would work better if the italics were more obvious, i don't think it looks that different from the normal writing.)**

**Thanks for reading!!**

**Sisi…xx **


	8. Chapter 8

_Two weeks later_

"Howard" groaned Vince, as the older man pulled him by his wrist so that he sat heavily on the bed. "If I don't leave ten minutes ago I'm going to be late for the interview." Howard sat up and wrapped his arm around Vince's waist.

"Don't go." mumbled Howard, kissing his neck "Stay with me."

"You know I want to, but I can't. I've already missed way to many interviews because of you."

"Yeah, well I like spending time with you."

"Mmm." smiled Vince, enjoying the sensation of Howard nibbling lightly on his ear. "well, you're coming to the show tonight, aren't you? After show party and all that?"

"Yeah, but it's not like actually being with you."

"I know, but Alice is going to be there. She told me to get her two tickets, her and her friend… err, Penny, is it?"

"Jenny, oh yeah. She loves you."

"Everyone does." grinned Vince. "In fact, they love me more now."

"What are you talking about?" asked Howard, letting Vince go, so he could put his shoes on.

"I was looking on Internet forums yesterday and they say I'm just as sexy now that I'm gay. And gay men think I'm really sexy."

Howard chukled to himself.

"One of them even said you were sexy."

"Just one?"

"Yeah, but I agree with them."

Howard smiled. "How come you're reading Internet forums anyway?"

"No reason." Vince blushed

"Vince. Have you been googling yourself again?" he asked knowingly.

"Maybe."

"You really do love yourself, don't you?" laughed Howard.

"I was checking my popularity, that's all."

"And?"

"It seemed good. Though I suppose wont really know until the album goes on sale tomorrow."

"Nervous?"

"Petrified." Vince admitted

"You shouldn't be. It's amazing. Especially track 12." Howard grinned wickedly.

"Yeah, because you play sax on it. That gave Frank and the producers a panic attack." laughed Vince. "It takes 8 weeks for an album to be produced, you know, from the time you finish recording it, to the time it goes on sale. And I just strolled in there two weeks ago and demanded they change it. Oh well, it sounded amazing! You did a fantastic job!"

"Thank you" blushed Howard.

"_And_" grinned Vince "It means you have to come on tour with me next month, even if you don't want to. Anyway," he said, looking at his watch. "I've got to go. I'll see you later. We'll chill out for a bit before the gig, yeah?"

"Yeah." smiled Howard, as Vince leant down to give him a long kiss goodbye.

Howard lazed around the house for a while, watching TV, going in the hot tub, playing on the endless games consoles Vince had. Howard insisted he hated these games. He said that they ruined his creative mind but he found them incredibly addictive and he always went on them when Vince wasn't around to laugh at how rubbish he was. 'Anyway,' reasoned Howard, 'they hadn't done anything to Vince's creative mind'. After getting shot for the hundredth time on some brain numbing war game, he went and sat in the sauna.

He loved it here. There was no pressure, no worries, no pretence. Howard could just be himself and more importantly, so could Vince. Their relationship was getting stronger by the second, although Vince still had a nasty habit of flirting outrageously with every girl he saw. The only problem, as far as Howard could see, was that the paparazzi. Some of the magazines had taken to describe their relationship as a publicity stunt, which had originally put some strain on their relationship but Howard had learnt to ignore it. And, he _did_ enjoy being known as 'the man who turned Vince Noir monogamous'.

Everything was beginning to look up for Howard T J Moon. Even his jazz career had picked up. After his performance on Vince's album, an important producer from a record company that specified in jazz had phoned him several times about a possible recording contract.

'Oh Vince'll be on in a few minutes. Better watch it or he'll moan at me' thought Howard, getting out of the sauna and wrapping a towel around his waste. He walked into his bedroom, flicking on the TV on as he went.

"So Vince." said Steve Jones. "You've got a new album out?"

"Yeah, tomorrow. Go and buy it, it's really good." he said to the crowd stood around the sofas.

"You nervous? I can't imagine you are, you don't strike me as the nervous type."

"No, I'm not. It's a really strong album. Lots of amazing performances from the musicians, especially track 12... And obviously I'm fantastic throughout." he grinned cheekily.

"Obviously," laughed Steve. "And this has got the single 'Everything and Nothing' on it? You'll be performing that for us in a couple of minutes."

"Yeah. Quite looking forward to it actually. Looks like you've got some pretty amazing people here today."

The crowd cheered and Howard groaned loudly as one girl screamed "I love you Vince!"

"I love you too." laughed Vince. Howard knew he was only joking but it stop that twinge of jealousy in his gut.

"Let's talk love." continued Steve

"Let's"

"Still got lots of ladies chasing you."

"Hell yeah." screamed another girl from the crowd.

"I've got a fair amount." grinned Vince, looking in the direction of the voice.

"But you're in a relationship?"

"I am."

"I didn't think I'd ever say that to Vince Noir."

"I know, it's a big step, right?"

"Yeah, but lots of papers are calling it a publicity stunt. They're suggesting you're just trying to attract the gay fans. What d'you think of that?"

Vince shrugged.

"Come on Vince, this is your chance to silence the critics."

"Well, what are you asking?"

"I guess what I'm asking is, is your relationship a publicity stunt?"

"No, not at all. I love him." Howard's head snapped up. He what? "and without trying to get too ahead of myself , I think Howard could be 'the one'." WHAT!?

Howard began to breath heavily. He clutched his chest and found he was sweating profusely. 'Oh God,' he thought 'Too much. Too fast. I haven't seen anyone for a while. I don't know what other people are like. What if they're better than Vince? What if they're more like Howard?' The perfect jazz loving man could be out there just waiting for him. Suddenly, He felt trapped. He was caged in. He couldn't breath. He was suffocated. He had to get away. He just had to.

---

Vince arrived home at around midday. He bounced through the front door giggling, "Honey, I'm home." when there was no response, Vince opened the door to the kitchen. "Howard," he called "You in there?" He wasn't.

After searching upstairs, downstairs and outside, Vince concluded Howard had gone to the shop and went to wait for him in the living room. He hunted for the TV remote and eventually found it on the arm of the chair. Next to it was a note.

"Aha." Vince said, picking it up, expecting it to say 'at the shops' or more than likely 'gone down the pub for lunch'. But when he opened it and his heart sank and something inside him broke.

_I can__'__t do this anymore.  
__Sorry.  
__Howard._


	9. Chapter 9

**"Talk is Cheap" is a song by Cinderella - i don't own it! (but i have changed the order a bit.)**

* * *

"Oh… my… God!" screamed Jenny as the stadium came into view. "You have no idea how much I love you right now Alice Moon!"

"Don't thank me. Thank Vince, he got the tickets for us."

"I still can't believe you know Vince Noir."

"I can't believe my brothers living with Vince Noir."

"I know, I was devastated when I read that he was gay."

"Who Howard or Vince?"

"Are you thick? Vince obviously. Oh well, one look at me and he'll see the light."

"He better flaming not. If he cheats on Howard, I'll kill him.

"You can't kill Vince Noir!"

"Why not?"

"I love him."

"We're going to meet him after the show and if you act like this he'll run a mile."

"I can't believe we're going to meet him." Jenny squealed "Have you met him before?"

"Just once."

"Is he sexier in real life than he is on telly?"

"Ummm, yeah, probably."

"Oooooo, what was he wearing when you met him?"

"Not a lot." smirked Alice as the image of Vince, scuttling out of he brothers bedroom wearing nothing but boxers, flashed across her brain. Suddenly, Alice's phone buzzed in her pocket. She took it out and turned it off.

"Who was that?""Howard. He's probably wondering where we are. Come on. We'd better get a move on."

--

At about quarter to nine the stadium went very dark and a thunderous voice came over the loud speaker.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Please be upstanding for the greatest man… is he a man? No, better than a man, a god. Please be upstanding for the greatest god of rock. The greatest god of women… erm, and men. He is the confuser. He's the bamboozler. It's the wonderful, the awesome… VINCE NOIR!"

The crowd screamed and cheered as Vince, came out through the smoke and walked up to the microphone to the sound of his band playing 'Simply the Best'.

"I didn't write that opening speech." he grinned cheekily.

"I bet he did." muttered Alice, with a knowing smile.

"How is everyone tonight?" continued Vince.

The crowd roared.

"Cool." he grinned "Okay, I'm going to start tonight with my own twist on a Cinderella song and um… well, this pretty much sums up how I feel right now."

"_I don't wanna hear it  
your talk is cheap  
I don't wanna know_

Vince was spitting out each word like venom. His movements weren't fluid and controlled, like they usually were. They were angry and erratic and something in his eyes was burning pure hatred.

_I don't wanna hear it  
T-T-Talk is cheap  
I don't wanna know_"

He kicked over his microphone stand and sank to his knees, screaming the lyrics at the top of his voice.

"_You talk of love and hope someday  
You won't be feeling so  
Neglected, all your promises  
And now you turn to me and scream  
It's hectic at the bottom  
And it's lonely at the  
top, so run to  
Momma's always waitin'  
But this time she  
blew her top, you say  
you're_

_Sorry you missed the boat  
Sorry that's all he wrote_"

He jumped up and kicked over one of the symbols.

_I don't wanna hear it  
Mmm your talk is cheap  
I don't wanna know  
I don't wanna hear it  
T-T-Talk is cheap  
I don't wanna know_

He picked up a guitar and smashed it through it's own amp before running off the stage, leaving the band to do nothing but glance at each other, completely baffled.

The crowd was silent. Slowly a rumble of noise built up as one by one they began to ask questions.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Jenny.

"I don't know. What did he mean this is how I feel at the moment?" asked Alice, looking around. "And where's Howard? He said he'd meet us here."

"Never mind that. Where's Vince?"

--

Vince was sat in the corner of his dressing room breathing heavily and looking around at the mess he'd just created. Smashed mirrors, broken chairs, splattered hair products - none of it mattered. He could see that now. Money, talent, fame. Nothing mattered if you couldn't share it with anybody.

"Vince!" came the booming voice of Frank from outside the locked door. "If you don't explain what's going on in about three seconds flat there will be some _serious_ repercussions."

"I don't care!" sobbed Vince

"You better not be crying in there."

"I'm not." he lied.

"If this has got anything to do with that jazz spaz you insist you 'love' then pull yourself together. I warned you about him."

"It hasn't." Vince said defiantly, wiping his eyes hurriedly before opening the door.

"Great." bellowed Frank, slapping Vince on the back with his dustbin lid of a hand. "In that case, get on stage and don't let this, whatever _this_ is, affect your performance again, got it?"

"It won't." mumbled Vince. "Sorry Frank."

Vince, pushed all thoughts of Howard to the back of his mind, took a deep breath and stepped on stage. The crowd cheered enthusiastically and he completed the show in true rock god fashion. He had to make the rest of concert so strong that people would forget about the disastrous first song and it seemed to work or at least everyone seemed satisfied when they left.

--

"That was… that was, oh... that was amazing." sighed Jenny as she and Alice made their way to the after show party.

"Yeah it was." said Alice turning her phone back on. "Howard told me was good live, so did Vince for that matter but I thought they were just being big headed. Look at that." she frowned, showing her phone to Jenny. "Eight missed calls from Howard."

"What do you think he wanted?"

"Dunno." she shrugged. "Probably trying to find us or something."

"Is this the room?" Jenny asked, pointing at a large black door.

"Yeah."

They pushed the door open to find a few hundred people moving freely to the deafening disco beats. Vince, unsurprisingly, was drawing maximum attention by dancing on a platform _very_ provocatively with a big breasted blonde.

"Can you see Howard?" Alice asked, looking around intently.

"huh?" Jenny replied, virtually drooling, her eyes fixed on the tipsy rock star.

"Oh I'll ask Vince." sighed Alice, exasperated by the how pathetic her friend was acting.

"I'll come too." beamed Jenny excitedly.

As they approached the platform Vince spotted them and, his face the picture of pure confusion, he jumped down.

"Hiya Vince." beamed Alice

"Hi." he frowned then, spotting Jenny, he smiled gorgeously and said "And who might you be?"

"Jenny." she giggled. Vince leant forward and kissed her cheek, lingering just a little longer than was necessary.

"That's a beautiful name." he said huskily. "For a beautiful girl."

Jenny blushed furiously and Alice rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Vince" she said.

"Mmm?" he uttered, not taking his eyes off Jenny, who by now wouldn't look out of place in a tomato patch.

"Is Howard around? He's rung me about a hundred times."

"Of course he's not around!" scorned Vince, turning to glare at Alice "And if you're going to ring him back, tell him from me he's a wanker."

"What!?" she asked, but Vince was already making his way to the dance floor with Jenny in tow.

Alice, feeling completely confused, walked to a quiet corner of the room and rang her brother, intending to get some answers.

"Hello?" was the sobbed greeting.

"Howard, what's going on? Where are you? Why is Vince acting really weirdly?"

"We broke up." he wept

"You what? Why?"

"Because he… he… he said…"

"What Howard? what did he say?" she asked gently.

"H-he… sorry, I can't…"

"It's okay Howard, calm down." she soothed. "I'll come and see you, where are you?"

"Hotel, it's down the road from the stadium."

"I'll be right there."

"Where are you now?"

"After show party."

"Is he there?"

"Yeah."

"What's he doing?"

"Moping in a corner." Alice lied, as she watched Vince and Jenny kissing disgustingly needily. They'd long since got down from the platform and now Vince had Jenny pinned against a wall. "See you in a bit." she finished, hanging up angrily.

She went over to the couple.

"Oi." she said, tapping Vince on the shoulder.

"What?" Vince asked, breaking the kiss. Jenny, too, looked furious about being disturbed.

"What've you done to Howard?"

"Nothing." snapped Vince, "and I don't want to talk about him, I'm with Jenny tonight."

"Don't you dare sleep with him." Alice glared at Jenny

"What right do you have to tell me what to do?"

"Yeah, get lost Alice. You're such an interfering bitch. Come on babe." he said putting his arm round Jenny's shoulders. "Let's go somewhere more private."

--

Half an hour later, Alice was sat on uncomfortable hotel chair gently coaxing the story out of Howard.

"And then he said." sobbed Howard "And then he said that… he loved me."

"And?"

"I knew I had to escape. I felt boxed in…"

"This had better be a joke." interrupted Alice.

"What?"

"You left Vince because he said he loved you. Are you stupid?"

"No."

"Then why exactly did you leave?"

"I told you, I felt trapped. I couldn't stay there anymore. He said he _loved _me, Alice. I'm Howard Moon, I play the field."

Alice snorted loudly.

"What?" he asked indignantly.

"You don't play the field, you sit in your flat waiting for the right man to come along and when he does, apparently, you leave him because he loves you. Oh my god," she said, a look of realisation sweeping over her. "That's why he had that breakdown on stage."

"He what?"

"He came on the stage and just had a melt down, smashing things up. You've broken his heart, you jerk!"

"But it was moving so fast."

"Of course it was moving fast." she exploded. "You two were made for each other. I can't believe this." she said in disbelief. "You left the man who is quite probably the love of your life. He risked everything for you. Oh, I can't handle you anymore Howard. If you wanna wreck your life, go ahead and do it but stop crying to me every time you do."

She stormed out of the hotel and slammed it behind him. Howard leant back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Once again his life seemed to have hit a new low. And, once again, he'd brought it on himself. As always, in the life of Howard T J Moon, all he touched turned to crap.

* * *

**Thanks for reading!  
(And just to remind Jantofan: quick update to 'Walking A Mile', please. lol.)**

**Love ya all!  
Sisi...xx**


	10. Chapter 10

**The song - is 'The Blues' by GnR (who look like they're finally releasing Chinese Democracy *jumps for joy*) But I've altered it a fair bit to fit into the story better. Anyway, [D/C alert] the song belongs to W. Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses.**

* * *

Howard was amazed at how quickly you become a nobody when you're not constantly with a celebrity. He'd only stopped living with Vince a few days ago and already he could walk around London free from paparazzi and jealous teenage girls. Although now, something else followed him. Something much darker. Something much more difficult to shake.

Howard sat on a bench, warming his hands with his plastic coffee cup. London was a lot less magical, when you were staying in the worst hotel known to man. It was owned by a women who was about a hundred years old and had taken as instant dislike to Howard. He had no money, no friends and his record deal had fallen through. He knew his time in the capital was coming to an end but he had no idea where he was going to go.

He hadn't bothered paying rent on his flat, so that was an option. And Alice? Well, she wasn't returning any of his calls. She'd finally given up on him, just like everyone else in his sorry excuse for a life. Everyone except… well, Vince had never looked down on him, even though he probably had more right to than anyone. He'd even fought to get Howard on that stupid song. Even though everyone else had insisted the original sax player was better. Vince hadn't cared. He'd stood up to them and fought Howard's case. He'd stood up to Frank too and the paparazzi. He'd fought everyone and everything just to have Howard with him and Howard had repaid him by leaving him, just when things were going really well.

Just thinking about it made Howard feel sick. His stomach twisting as a painful reminder of how stupid he'd been. He took another sip of tea and then looked at the copy of Cheekbone he'd just bought from a the corner shop. He read it everyday, just on the off chance there would be a picture or an interview from Vince and there usually was. He glanced at the contents and his eyes were drawn to 'Pictures of Vince Noir at after show party - Page 34'. He flicked to the page. He always half hoped that the pictures would be of Vince crying or looking miserable but they never were. He was always smiling and laughing with a large group of similarly dressed, like-minded musical insiders. Howard studied the photos carefully even though it broke his heart to see Vince kissing various girls. Though, Howard noticed, there were never any of him kissing men. 'Back in the closet' Howard had thought grumpily.

This article was no different from the others, hundreds of pictures of Vince at the party. Vince dancing with a blonde. Vince dancing with a brunette. Vince dancing with a girl with a skirt no wider than a belt. Vince downing a Flirtini. Vince downing another Flirtini and another one. Vince leaving the party with… was that Jenny? Howard brought the magazine up to his face, so close that his nose nearly touched the paper. It was! The slut! Howard let out a strangled cry and threw the magazine wildly, much to the surprise of a passing old woman.

"Sorry." mumbled Howard embarrassedly, picking up the copy of Cheekbone and putting it in the bin as she watched him, like an old head mistress.

He walked back to the hotel room slowly, the image of Vince taking Jenny to a hotel burned in his brain. He wanted to cry and scream and retch and yet he couldn't not think about them together. This was the sickest form of torture, the only thing he didn't want to think about was the only thing he could.

When he got back to the hotel he found a note nailed to his door. It read: 'Money or Out!'. Sighing, Howard tore it down and entered the room. He knew he'd have to leave. There was no point pro-longing the agony anymore, it was time to go back to Leeds. He rang Alice. Unsurprisingly, it went to the answer machine."Hiya. I'm not around at the moment so just leave me a message after the beep. Unless your name is Howard, in which case, I'm not interested."

Howard sighed deeply as the high pitched noise told him to start talking. "Hi Al. It's Howard. I really need somewhere to stay. I've been kicked out of the hotel and I can't stay in London, I've got nothing here. I'm coming back to Leeds. Uh, yeah, so I'll see you soon. Er, Bye."

And with that Howard began to make the long and painful way back to Leeds.

---

Vince ran through the green fields towards Howard. His arms outstretched. His hair blowing in the light breeze.

"I love you" he cried. "I have since the first moment I saw you, walking down that street in the pouring rain."

"I love you too." laughed Howard, catching the other man and swinging him around. He closed his eyes and nestled into the other man's thick black hair. He wanted to hold on to this moment forever.

"Never let me go Howard, I couldn't bear it."

"I never will. Never."

"Howard! Howard! Hold on, I'm falling."

"You're not falling." Howard reassured him, but as he said it Vince became less real in his arms. He could feel him slipping away, like sand through an egg timer. Howard tried to hold on but Vince was no longer real. He was floating like a ghost, impossible to catch; like smoke.

"No Vince!" Howard screamed "Come back, please. I do love you, I do."

"FEET!" came a loud voice from nowhere and everywhere.

"W-what?" Howard stammered, looking around, completely bewildered. He was now stood in pitch blackness. The fields from before had disappeared and where was…? He looked around frantically but Vince had disappeared too and from somewhere in the distance he could feel something tapping his legs.

"FEET!" shouted the voice again.

Howard woke with a start and glared at his sister who was attacking his legs with her magazine.

"Move." she said. Howard grudgingly swung his legs around so that she could join him on the sofa, which he'd adopted as a bed for the last couple of weeks.

She hadn't spoken more than a word to him since he'd been there. He'd tried at first to engage her in conversation over breakfast, or in the evening, when she got home from work but she'd just sit there. Sullen, sulky and silent. He was beginning to think it would be better just to live on the streets. What he shared with his sister now, was a slow form of torture. Maybe he'd have been better off if she'd refused to take him in but she couldn't do that to him. However much she ignored him or claimed she hated him, when it came to the crunch, when his life finally hit a rock bottom most people couldn't comprehend, she was there for him. Just like she always had been.

Now, Alice was flicking through the channels on the TV with an expression that suggested she was looking for something specific. She found it and, with a satisfied smile, she put the remote down as on the screen appeared the one, the only Vince Noir.

"Turn it off." groaned Howard reaching for the remote.

"I don't think so," Alice said moving it out his reach. "Have you heard his new song?" Howard shook his head. "Then I think you should listen to it."

"I don't want to."

"Tough."

It was strange but this was the most they'd spoken since he'd moved in.

"So Vince," smiled Fern Britton "You just pop over there and get ready to do your song, now I understand this isn't on the album, is that right?"

"Yeah." smiled Vince, though Howard sensed there was something wrong with the smile, it wasn't the real Vince Noir smile. This one didn't quite reach his eyes. It sparkled but it didn't shine. "This is just available as a single."

"Okay. Off you go."

Vince nodded and walked over to the small stage area and, much to Howard's surprise, he didn't strike a pose by a microphone or strike a pose with his back to the camera or indeed strike any kind of pose at all.

Instead, he sat at a grand piano. He had no backing singers, no backing band - just him and his instrument. This was as raw and exposed as Vince had ever been whilst performing and, for the first time in his life, he was nervous. This song was so private, it was only meant for the ears of one person. The fans, the record sales, the charts that didn't matter to him. It was just that this was the only way of getting the man who mattered to hear what his heart was trying to say. He took a deep breath and began to play. His voice was so full of emotion, it was heartbreaking to hear and after just one line Howard was wiping a tear from his eye.

"_All the love in the world couldn't save you  
All the innocence inside  
You know I tried so hard to make you  
Ooo I wanna make you change your mind_

_And it hurts too much to see you  
How you left what we had behind  
You know I wouldn't want to be you  
Now there's a hell I can't describe_

_So now I wander through my days  
__Trying to find my ways  
To hide the feelings that I have  
I save for you and no one else_

_I don't know just what I should do  
Everywhere I go I see you  
__You know I understand, this much is true  
__'Cause you got cold feet, when I said loved you,_

_What this means to me  
Is more than I know you believe  
What I thought of you now  
Has cost more than it should for me_

_What I thought was true before  
Were lies I couldn't see  
What I thought was beautiful  
Is only memories_

_I don't know just what I should do  
Everywhere I go I see you  
You know I understand, this much is true  
'Cause you got cold feet, when I said loved you_"

"Well done Vince Noir!" clapped Phillip Schofield. "Excellent stuff and the world tour starts tonight, is that right?"

"Yeah. We're starting in London tonight and then I'm going to Sweden on Tuesday."

"Are you going to be playing that song on the tour?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Well it's very beautiful."

"Thank you." Vince gave a watery smile.

"Tell me Vince."

"Hmm?"

"Is written about any one person?"

"No." Vince gave a strangled laugh, "It's just a figment of my imagination. I got the inspiration from watching this obscure Russian film. I won't recommend it but you know…"

"Oh, Fern and I were thinking that maybe you'd found a new person to melt your heart."

"No, not yet! I'm still very much on the scene… and looking. So, you know if anyone's interested." He winked at the camera. "Just give me a text."

"Give him a text" smirked Alice, tapping him on the knee.

"Get lost." Howard spat, getting up off the sofa and storming into the kitchen.

"God you're so thick." she called, following him calmly.

"How am I?""Well, that song was clearly about you, and you're the only person in the entire world who doesn't realise it."

"Two things. One. It wasn't about me, it was based on some film, he just said so. And two. If it was about me, the lyrics weren't exactly positive, were they?"

"You did break his heart."

"Shut up."

"D'you know what? Screw it! You wanna sit around here moping and being miserable, be my guest. But don't moan to me about how rubbish your life is."

"I don't."

"Oh and also, stop stealing my magazines and cutting out the pictures of Vince, it's annoying and more than a bit creepy. It's the sort of thing obsessive girl fans do, not the man he once described on national TV as the one."

"Stop it!" yelled Howard

"Hard to hear?"

"No."

"He'll move on soon enough though."

"Good. I have."

"He's already back to sleeping with every girl he see's."

"Shut up!" Howard was almost crying.

"See, you haven't moved on at all." scorned Alice.

"I have!" he insisted.

"Liar, every night you call his name in your sleep. I hope you didn't do that when you lived with him, that would've been embarrassing."

"He'd have loved it though." murmured Howard "He'd be thrilled to think that people not only think about him when they're awake but when they're asleep too."

"That's probably true." said Alice, flicking on the radio, before beginning the washing-up from last night.

"And this next song," announced the DJ "Well I love it, it's 'Everywhere I Go (I see you)' by Vince Noir."

"_All the love in the world couldn't save you_"

"Oh my God!" screamed Howard, slamming down a plate. "He's everywhere!" . He stomped out of the flat and slammed the door so hard that the entire house shook.

* * *

**Thanks for reading everyone!!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I was reading over the last chapter and I realised the state I'd left it in, missing words, missing punctuation. You shouldn't have to read that (I mean you don't **_**have**_** to read anything, but the point is) it was rubbish! So, this is my official apology and **_**hopefully**_** this chapter will make up for it a bit - it is a bit short though, sorry!**

**

* * *

**

Howard sat hunched on the bench and looked around the empty field. It was strange to think that this is where it had all begun. Howard had worked out that Vince's demountable dressing room had been just a few yards from where he was now sat. The place they'd shared their first kiss. Howard hadn't planned to end up here. He'd come to this field on autopilot. His intention, when he'd left the house, had been to put Vince to the back of his mind but, instead, he'd managed to go somewhere that made him think exclusively of the young rockstar. Not that he didn't think exclusively of Vince wherever he was. Everything reminded him of Vince, even his beloved jazz. All Howard could think of when he heard it was how much Vince would have moaned if he'd have been there.

Howard shivered as a cold wind swept across the large empty field, causing the man to pull his coat tightly around him. Then, he felt a flapping on his leg and looked down to see a newspaper wrapped around his calf. He picked it up. The headline read: "Vince Noir Seen Leaving Super Model's Flat After 'Wild Night'" Howard crumpled up the paper and tossed it back to the floor. How many people had Vince slept with since Howard? He'd so obviously moved on. Alice was just being stupid when she'd said that song was about him. Vince had probably forgotten who Howard Moon was by now.

Howard ran his hands through his hair pulling at the strands which became tangled around his fingers. He desperately wanted to forget about Vince Noir, but something in the back of his mind just wouldn't let him.

"Hey Howard." said a nervous voice from behind him. He lifted his head from his hand and, on seeing the owner of the voice, he snapped

"Go away!"

"Look I…"

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say, Jenny."

"But I…"

"I know you slept with Vince." he spat.

"It's not like you were with him at the time and anyway I didn't…"

"I can't even look at you." he snarled, turning away from her and staring at the grass.

"I'm sorry." she sighed, "Really I am. I thought I loved him and I had this romantic idea that he would fall in love with me, like he did with you, and that we'd live happily ever after but…" she trailed off. They were silent for a while, the only sound was the wind whistling through the nearby trees, before she added. "We never actually slept together." Howard's ears pricked up. "We went back to this gorgeous hotel." Sounded like Vince's style. "He ordered room service. A big bottle of champagne and a few Flirtini's. It seemed so… perfect. We kissed for ages." Howard winced. "But Vince just seemed intent on getting as wasted as possible and then he just started talking about you. He went on and on and on about you. So, I tried to shut him up with a kiss," The anger flamed up inside Howard. "but he murmured your name. Then he pushed me away and sorta broke down. He started to cry and said he couldn't break his promise to you, something about not sleeping with other people." Howard's heart skipped a beat, maybe Vince had stayed faithful to him this whole time. "He's such a user." she ended angrily.

"He's not a user!" Howard retaliated automatically.

"He used me! Or at least he was going to until he had that meltdown. God knows how many people he's used since me. I'm sure he's pulled himself together by now. He was with that model the other day, wasn't he?" Howard was so filled with anger that his head was spinning. He wasn't listening to Jenny's ramblings and he wasn't sure what she was saying anymore. One thing he was sure of was that he needed a pint. He got up and began to walk in the direction of the nearest pub.

--

"Another please barman." Howard half demanded half sang, slamming his empty glass down on the bar.

"I think you've had enough, sir." the young barman answered politely.

"No! I need another" -hiccough- "another one… you've got nice eyes, did you know that?"

"Umm, thanks." said the barman uneasily, prising the glass from Howard's grasp. "But you're not going to sweet talk me into letting you buy another drink."

In response Howard slurred a series of virtually indecipherable expletives.

"Okay out!" the barman was getting angry now.

"I'm already going!" Howard shouted indignantly, lowering himself, none to gracefully, from the bar stool. "I wouldn't want to stay here anyway. It…" he paused, his sozzled brain searching desperately for a suitable insult. "… smells" he finished proudly. Then, he stumbled clumsily out of the pub and tripped over the doorway landing flat on his face.

He rubbed his sore head and clambered awkwardly to his feet, swaying dangerously as he walked down the street. He cursed loudly at a lamppost which he nearly walked in to and waved his fist furiously at a phone box, for no apparent reason at all. He zigzagged down the pavement looking for the next open pub. He squinted hard, peering through the blinding street lights. Then, he saw him, like an angel in the distance.

"Vince!" he cried. Running, or at least staggering quickly, towards the person. As he got close to the dark-haired figure, he grabbed them by the shoulders and spun them around and found himself face to face with a terrified looking girl.

"Get off me you pervert!" she screamed, pushing him away violently.

"You're not Vince!" he blinked, backing away from her as though she was the one who'd just man handled him, rather than the other way round. "You don't look anything like Vince."

"Watch yourself." she said, sounding a little concerned as Howard continued to step backwards towards the curb. "Seriously." she called "Stop."

But Howard wasn't listening. He was still backing away. His eyes were wide and full of fear and confusion. His steps were unsteady. His head was spinning. He felt sick. He felt lost. He wanted everything. He wanted nothing. He didn't know what he wanted. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know anything. He was vaguely aware of someone screaming at him to stop. Then, losing his footing, he stumbled backwards into the road.

A horn sounded. Tyres screeched. A girl screamed and Howard fell to the floor with a lifeless thud.

--

Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep.

"Nurse can you monitor his heart rate."  
"It's in decline Doctor"  
"Okay, you just keep an eye on it."

Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep.

"How are we looking over there?"  
"Not good."  
"Is he breathing?"  
"No not yet."

Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep.

"Okay, how's his heart rate?"  
"Still decreasing. We haven't got long."  
"Ok, tell me when it gets critical."

Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep.

"Heart rate almost critical."  
"Okay get the defibrillator ready please nurse"  
"Okay… no breathing and… doctor? Heart rate is falling rapidly. It's just reached critical."

Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

"CLEAR!"

Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

"CLEAR!"

Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.


	12. Chapter 12

Vince stepped out of the hearse solemnly and laid some flowers to rest by the entrance to the church. Surely, that would be enough. He didn't want to face going in and sitting through the sermon. He couldn't. There were people in that church who'd known him all his life. And Vince? Well, Vince had hardly known him at all. When it came to the end, Vince hadn't seen him for a very long time. He'd told everyone and anyone that would listen that he'd rather be somewhere else but they'd insisted that he had to be at the funeral, to pay his respects to the man who'd once been the most important person in his life.

Vince took a deep breath and stepped inside the church.

"Oh Vince." said the grieving widow, smilingly tearfully. "I'm so glad you came. I was worried you wouldn't, I know you're busy with the tour and everything. But Andrew insisted that you were inseparable back in the day. He was so sure you'd come, he put it in his will. It said 'Invite Vince Noir to my funeral, that little git was the best friend I had as a child.' I know that you being here would have meant the world to him."

"Thanks." Vince said softly, taking her hands in his. "And I'm so sorry for your loss. Andrew was a great man."

"He was." she sobbed, dabbing her eyes. "Listen Vince. I'd love it if you'd say a few words."

"Well, erm, I don't know. I mean I hadn't seen him for years. I'd feel a bit weird."

"Maybe a story or two from your childhood. Please Vince. I'd really appreciate it."

Vince looked at her. Her once bright green eyes were dull and bloodshot. Her face was creased with trying not to cry. She looked sick with grief. Vince knew the look all too well. It was exactly how he looked, every night, when he cried himself to sleep thinking about how he'd driven Howard away.

"Of course I'll say a few words." he sighed. "It'll be an honour."

"Thank you Vince."

--

Vince sat down in the pew. He looked around at all the people who were crying, devastated by the death of Vince's childhood friend, Andrew Cook. Andrew was a nobody. He'd never done anything particularly worth mentioning. He'd worked hard at school, got a boring 9-5 job and had a family. He was Mr. Normal. He wasn't a worldwide star like Vince was and yet, the small church was packed, with friends and family. As Andrew's wife and children took their seats in the front pew, Vince couldn't help but wonder who would've sat there if this had been his funeral. Or who would have been at his funeral full stop. He had no family to speak of. No real friends. No one that cared about him - not really. His funeral would have been filled with faceless strangers. People who claimed they loved him. People he didn't even know.

The Vicar began to speak but Vince wasn't paying any attention, he was just staring blankly at his hymn sheet, thinking about how short and how precious his life was. After all Andrew had been the same age as him. He'd just been unfortunate and become ill. It could happen to anyone and Vince began to think of Howard. Vince knew that should he die tomorrow the only thing he'd regret about his questionable adulthood was letting Howard go without a fight. Just then, his mobile vibrated in his pocket. He ignored it. But it kept ringing and ringing, over and over again. He looked around. No one seemed to have noticed. They were all listening intently to the Vicar, so he discreetly pulled the phone from his pocket and glanced down at the screen.

**8 Missed Calls (No Number)**

**1 New Message (No Number)**

Vince frowned. He didn't give his number out to anyone, so how did someone he didn't know have his number? And, more importantly, why did they want to get hold of him so desperately? Keeping the phone near his trouser pocket, he opened the message.

**Sent: 11.53  
****Date: 15/11/2008  
****Sender: (No Number)**

Vince, it's Alice Moon.  
I know you're really  
busy with your tour and  
everything. But please  
ring me as soon as you  
can. It's urgent.  
Howard's been hit by a  
car and he's in a coma.  
The doctors say that the  
more people Talk to him  
the more likely he is to  
wake up. Please ring me  
Vince. You're my last  
hope.  
Alice

The phone fell from his limp fingers and clattered to the floor. Everyone turned to look at him, but he didn't care, he couldn't move or apologize for the noise, so he just sat, staring silently ahead of him. He felt sick. He felt numb. Tears streamed silently down his cheeks. He wanted to curl up and cry forever.

Then, he became increasingly aware that everyone in the church was looking at him. Through his tears, he saw the blurry shape of the vicar looking at him and saying.

"Vince? Are you going to say a few words?"

He didn't want to. He wanted to run. Run to Howard. But he'd made a promise to the widow, so he nodded tearfully and got shakily to his feet, walking towards the pulpit. He dried his tears on his sleeve and cleared his throat, the words of the text reverberating around his skull.

Urgent. Car. Howard. Coma.

"Hello." Vince sniffed. "Um, Andrew… what can I say? He was a great man…"

Urgent. Car. Howard. Coma.

"He always worked hard. Even when we were in school. He used to laugh at me because I…"

Urgent. Car. Howard. Coma.

"I never used to do anything in lessons. I always had to copy his homework, especially in maths. But he…"

Urgent. Car. Coma. Howard. Howard. Howard. Howard.

"h-he…" Vince was crying so hard now, he could hardly breath. "He, he… I'm sorry."

Howard. Howard. Howard.

"I'm sorry… I can't." he wept and with that Vince fled from the church, in floods of tears.

--

Howard woke up and smiled contentedly. He loved his life. He looked down and pulled the man in the bed beside him closer, kissing the back of his neck. Vince murmured incoherently and Howard smiled to himself. This was perfect. A lazy Sunday morning in bed with his boyfriend.

"D'you want a cup of tea?" he asked.

"Mmm, please." Vince mumbled, shifting so that Howard could retrieve his arm from behind the younger mans neck.

"Okay." Howard said, kissing Vince on the cheek and getting off the bed. He walked to the bedroom door and looked back. Vince was lying like and angle, his black hair contrasting enchantingly with the white of the pillows. He looked so beautiful. Howard didn't deserve him. The younger mans bright blue eyes fluttered open.

"Stop looking at me." he smirked coyly.

"I can't help it." Howard blushed. "You just mesmerise me. You're so beautiful."

"Howard?"

"Hmm?"

"Wake up."

"What?" The older man frowned. He _was_ awake. It was Vince who was lying on the bed half asleep.

"Please Howard." Vince's voice sounded choked with tears. "Please, for me. Wake up."

"I am awake." Howard said, totally baffled, "Are you feeling okay?" he asked, going back to the bed, sitting down gently and placing a hand on the younger man's forehead. He didn't have a temperature.

"Please Howard. Please. I'm begging you wake up" Vince repeated, his eyes were still closed. He looked peaceful enough but his voice was full of hurt and distress. "Please Howard. Wake up. Please, I love you."

--

"I love you so much. Please wake up."

"Okay Vince." The doctor said, putting a hand on the young rock star's shoulders. "That'll do."

"D'you think I got through to him?" Vince sobbed, looking up from his chair by Howard's side, his eyes full of unshed tears.

"I'm not sure." The doctor admitted quietly. "It's too early to know for sure." Vince nodded, sniffing pitifully. "But we can try again tomorrow" The doctor reassured him.

"D'you think he'll ever wake up?" Vince asked quietly, looking down at the man he loved.

"I don't know." The doctor said, equally quietly.

"You don't know much at all do you?" Vince retorted angrily, then, seeing the surprised look on the doctors face, he quickly apologized.

"Don't worry. You're upset. It's understandable."

Vince nodded, looking back at Howard.

"Have you got a way of getting home?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah." Vince said, standing up "I'm fine." And giving Howard one last hopeful look, he left.

"Hey." Alice said, getting up from the chair in the corridor and pulling Vince into a big hug. "How did it go?"

"It was horrible." Vince wept, burying his head in her shoulder. "He's just… lying there, hooked up to all these machines. He looks so… so…"

"Shhh." Alice soothed. "Don't worry yourself about it now. Let's go back to my flat."

"You sure it's okay if I stay?"

"Of course. We need friends around us at times like this." Vince nodded, and allowed her to link his arm and lead him through the waiting room and the crowd of piranha-like paparazzi that were waiting by the entrance to the hospital, before taking the distraught man back home.


	13. Chapter 13

**It's a pretty long chapter - because I've been told off by 'Face-Like-An-Open-Book' about cliff hangers, so there isn't one at the end of this. At least i don't think there is (but i didn't think the last chapter was much of a cliff hanger) Anyway, here it is...**

* * *

"Vince, eat some breakfast." begged Alice, from the doorway of the living room.

"I can't" came the muffled response from the man, who was lying on the sofa/bed his face buried in the pillow.

"You havn't eaten anything for two days. You'll make yourself ill."

"I don't care." Vince said, pushing himself up on his elbows to look Alice in the eye. He looked dreadful. He had big, black rings under his eyes, his face was pale and thin. It was obvious he wasn't sleeping properly and he hadn't eaten properly since he'd moved in but there was nothing Alice could say or do to make it better.

"Vince." Alice said, angrily. "You have to keep your strength up for Howard, as well as for yourself. What if he wakes up today or tomorrow or next week? You don't want the first thing he see's to be you looking gaunt and ill, do you?"

"He's not going to wake up though, is he?" Vince retaliated, tears shining in his eyes. "We've been going there everyday for a month and nothing's changed."

"Now's not the time to give up hope, Vince."

"Isn't it?" he asked, sitting up. Angry tears beginning to force their way down his cheeks. "I heard what the doctor said to you a couple of days ago. You thought I wasn't listening but I was. He said that he was becoming less and less hopeful that Howard would ever pull through."

"He was just trying to prepare us for the worse." Alice said, fighting back her own tears and sitting on the sofa.

"But he told you to… he said you should… h-he…." Vince stopped. He couldn't bring himself to repeat the doctors words. He couldn't imagine the world without Howard, so, when he'd heard the doctor tell Alice that she'd have to consider turning off the machines, everything inside Vince collapsed. It felt so surreal to him, how could anyone, so casually, suggest ending someone's life? Especially when that person was Howard. "Please don't let them do it." Vince sobbed, clutching Alice's hand like a frightened child.

"Don't worry." Alice said, squeezing his hand. "I'm not ready to give up on him just yet but you've got to remember Vince, Howard could be like this for years. You can't just sit in this flat crying and starving yourself. You need to get on with your life a bit more. Go back to work like I have. It helps."

"I haven't got work and I'm not going on tour."

"Fine, but maybe you should do an interview with Cheekbone. You still haven't told your fans why you cancelled the tour."

"It's none of their business. Anyway, I'm not giving Cheekbone an interview, have you seen this weeks edition?"

"No. Why?"

"Read it." he said, pointing to a copy of the magazine that had been thrown on to the coffee table. Alice leaned forward to pick up the magazine and read it.

**Noir Likes To Keep It In The Family**

After his failed relationship with jazz musician, Howard Moon, Vince Noir embarks on romantic adventure with Moon's younger sister Alice, 26.

"That's sick." Alice said, throwing the magazine back down.

"Hey. I'm not that bad, am I?" Vince chuckled feebly. "Anyway, they were bound to think something was going on. I have been living with you for just over a month. Just don't read Heat."

"Why? What's it say in Heat?"

"They're saying you're pregnant. They think that's why we visit the hospital all the time."

"If only the they knew the truth." she said bitterly.

"They wouldn't care." Vince sighed deeply and leant back heavily against the sofa.

"You looked like him then."

"What?"

"Well, this is exactly what he used to do before his accident. Sit around, sighing, crying. He loved you."

"Don't talk about him in the past tense."

"Sorry, he loves you."

"Well, he had a funny way of showing it." Vince said resentfully, remembering, all too clearly, the heartbreak and anger he'd felt the day he'd found the note.

"He got scared. It's understandable, he'd never even been in a proper serious relationship before and I don't think he could believe how much he loved you."

"He got scared? I'd never been in any sort of relationship before. It was all about one night stands, before Howard. I changed for him. I risked my career for him and he just left me! He didn't even tell me why."

"He's an idiot. He regretted it every single day and it didn't help to see you in the magazines. He thought about coming to find you a few times, then he'd see you in the papers with some model, so some actress or… Jenny."

"Don't" Vince said embarrassedly.

"And he just figured you'd moved on."

"I hadn't."

"Well, I could see that and Jenny told me you hadn't been able to sleep with her." Vince looked at his feet.

"It felt too much like cheating." he explained. "I thought if I went out with lots of people, I'd find someone just as great as Howard or at least someone to help me forget about him. But it didn't work. I'll never forget about him. I'll never move on."

Alice laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and said,

"Come on, let's go to the hospital."

Vince nodded dumbly.

--

As they reached Howard's ward, a doctor walked up to Alice and asked for a private word, eying Vince suspiciously.

"It's fine." Alice said, "He's virtually family."

Vince gave her a watery smile and the doctor nodded distrustfully.

"It's concerning the condition of your brother, Howard. Last night, he took a rather sharp and very significant decline in brain activity and responsiveness." Vince collapsed to his knees, his face buried in his hands. No, this couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. Not Howard. He was fine. He had to be. "He's become dangerously close to brain death." the doctor continued.

"Brain death? What's that?" asked Alice, trying to remain calm until she knew all the facts.

"It's the end of all brain activity due to total necrosis of the cerebral neurons following loss of blood flow and oxygenation."

"What does that mean in English?" Alice asked, her voice choked by frustrated tears.

"It means that his brain would be dead and there would be nothing else we could do for him. I'm sorry."

"What about at the moment?" Alice said.

"At the moment... well, he's still alive but I really think you should consider allowing us to turn off the machines. I know you don't want to hear it… but, it could be the best thing you could do for him now."

"How can you say that?" sobbed Vince from the floor. "How can killing him ever be the best thing for him?"

"All I'm saying is, I don't think he'll ever come out of this. If you continue to believe that he will, well, it'll be harder for you to accept in the end and maybe keeping him alive isn't the best thing for anyone involved."

"How can you say things like that!?" Vince screamed, he felt like he was going to explode with anger, his whole body ached from crying. He looked up at Alice who'd gone very quiet.

"Alice, tell him. Tell him to shut up. Tell him Howard's going to pull though. He has to."

"Vince." she said, looking down at him, her eyes full of sorrow. "Maybe it _is_ the best thing."

"No. No!" Vince screamed, shaking his head in disbelief and covering his ears with his hands. "No. Please don't do this. Please. I need him! You can't take him from me. You can't do this. You- you… you can't. Alice, he's your brother."

"I just want to do what's best for all of us." she wept, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I can't cope with this anymore, this constant unknowing. It's taking over our lives, Vince. I can't live like this. He's all we think about."

"He's always all I think about." Vince snapped, standing up and running into Howard's room.

As soon as he saw the man he broke down all over again. He looked very different from yesterday, he had even more machines attached to him now and had a tube sticking out of his mouth. Vince walked slowly towards the bed and climbed on to it, cuddling up to the unconscious man. He rested his head softly on his chest, the tears soaking Howard's hospital robes. He still felt like Howard but he was cold and unresponsive so… dead. He didn't even smell like Howard anymore, he'd adopted that hospital smell that Vince found so unpleasant.

He'd give up all his money for Howard to wrap his arm around him. He'd give up his fame if only Howard would wake up. He'd give up everything that he'd ever thought mattered just for Howard to speak to him, just one last time. He looked up towards the older mans face but quickly looked away. He couldn't bear to see the pale face, the unconscious expression or the tube sticking down his throat.

"Please pull through Howard. Please." he whispered. "I need you. I'll die without you."

Alice looked through the window in the door, seeing Vince like this broke her heart. She knew that if she gave her permission for them to switch off the machines he would never forgive her but at least it would all be over. It would hurt for a while, sure, but they would be able to finally begin to put it behind them. She looked at the doctor, her face pale, her eyes bloodshot and nodded silently.

The doctor nodded curtly back and said, "I think you've made the right decision. I'll give you five minutes with him."

Alice couldn't say anything. She looked back through the window at Vince. "I'm sorry." she whispered and went in. As she explained her desicion, Vince let out a high-pitch strangled scream and refused to look at her. He clung on desperately to Howard, like a limpit on a rock. He pushed his head further into the older man's chest. How could she do this? How could anyone do this?

--

Howard flicked through the TV channels manually. He'd lost the remote yesterday. Lot's of things had slowly been going missing over the last few days and not just small things either. Among the things that had seemingly disappeared were; his bed, the car, the dining room table, the whole top floor of the house and, most importantly, Vince. Vince had gone out yesterday and never come back. Howard wasn't particularly worried. Vince was always out. Touring, recording, partying. He'd asked Howard to go with him but the older man had declined, he didn't want to impose himself on Vince's 'other life'.

Howard looked around and picked up a book, it had been a while since he'd read. Reading wasn't allowed when Vince was around, it was banned on the grounds that it was 'too boring' and Howard relished the quiet moments he had alone to really get in to a good book, but this book was rubbish. He went to the bookshelf to find a different one but the bookcase had gone. "This is getting ridiculous." Howard said to himself. "How can all there things just disappear? It's stupid."

He turned back to find the sofa had also gone. Why was everything disapearing? It was almost as though his world was fading away. He sat on the floor and opened his book again. As he turned the page, he became aware of a cold, wet patch growing slowly on the front of his t-shirt.

'Strange' he thought to himself. He hadn't spilt anything. Where had it come from? He put the book down and looked up, was there a leak in the ceiling? No. So, _how_ had this water got there? He stood up and stretched his shirt to better inspect the patch, he was about to take the shirt off when he heard the distinctive sound of Vince's voice flooding his brain.

"Howard, I know you can't hear me anymore… but I really need to say this anyway."

"I can hear you." Howard yelled, looking around the room, which was slowly fading from view. "Where's everything gone, Vince? Help me! What's happening?"

"I love you so much."

"I love you too." Howard screamed. He was stood in darkness; there were no walls, no floor. Nothing, except him and the voice in his mind. "I never thought I'd fall in love, not really." Vince continued. "But you changed me. You mean everything to me. If you die, I swear I'll stop breathing."

"Am I going to die?" Howard asked tearfully, spinning round. Was this darkness what dying felt like? He needed to find the voice. He needed to find Vince. He needed to find a way out of this darkness.

"Please Howard." the voice was getting louder, more desperate. Howard dropped to his knees. He was being deafened by Vince's voice now; his hands flew to his head, pressing on his temple, his eyes closed.

"Get out of my head." Howard begged, quietly. "I need you here with me. I'm scared Vince. I need you."

"Please. Wake up, for me. Please. Please. The doctor's coming. Please wake up, show them you're alive. Please Howard. Please. Open your eyes. Come on. Open your eyes. OPEN YOUR EYES." The voice boomed through his head, rattling his skull and Howard's eyes flew open.

--

He felt blinded by the bright whiteness of the room. The walls were white, the ceiling was white, even his clothes were white. It was a stark contrast to where he'd just been. Where was he? Why was there a tube in his mouth? And what was that resting on his chest? He lifted his head painfully and looked down to see…

"Vince?" he choked around the tube. Vince's head snapped up. "What are you doing here? Am I dreaming?"

"Howard!" he cried, bursting into tears all over again. "No, you're not dreaming. You're awake. You're alive. Oh my god. You're alive." Vince squeezed the older man into a tight hug.

"Yeah." he said, trying to pull the tube out of his mouth.

"Don't touch it." Vince said, taking the older man's hands in his own. "Wait here. I'll get the nurse and Alice… ALICE! ALICE!" he screeched, running to the door and opening it. "He's alive. He's alive! Howard. He's alive!"


	14. Chapter 14

"Are you okay? I mean, are you sure you're okay? Do you want me to do… anything?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Stop bloody fussing!"

"Oh," giggled Vince, "Sorry." he blushed.

Howard just smiled back and patted his lap, indicating that the smaller man should sit down.

"You sure it'll be okay?" Vince asked, eyeing the older man's leg cast.

"Just sit down." laughed Howard, wheeling his wheelchair over to Vince and pulling his wrist, until the smaller man sat down, carefully avoiding the injured leg.

"You're in a good mood." commented Vince, resting his head on Howard's shoulder.

"I'm getting out of this godforsaken hospital in a matter of hours. You're here. I've got a lot of things to happy about."

Vince grinned, idly picking at the front of Howard's shirt. "I'm glad I'm here… with you." he sighed, contentedly. "I can't believe I almost let you go."

"You didn't." Howard said, stroking Vince's hair. "I was the one who left. I was the one who broke your heart. I was the one who…"

"Shhh." hushed Vince, placing a finger to the other mans lips. "It doesn't matter. You're here now, that's all that's important."

Howard mumbled something against his finger, so Vince did the only thing to shut him up completely and kissed him. Howard smiled against his lips but he wasn't going to be deterred that easily, when Vince pulled away and rested his head back on the other man's shoulder Howard asked.

"All I was going to ask was 'where's Alice'? I haven't seen her for… well, I can't remember seeing her."

Vince looked at his lap and shrugged. He didn't have the courage to tell Howard about the row they'd had after Howard had woken up. It had ended with Vince telling her if she came near Howard again he'd make her life hell and neither man had seen her since.

"In less," Howard thought out loud "She came and saw me in the first few days. I can't remember much about that."

"I know." Vince giggled, "You kept calling everyone Vince."

"Oh Jesus." Howard blushed, "It can't be healthy to be so infatuated."

"Infatuated?" smiled Vince.

"Yeah, maybe Alice was sick of me mixing her up with you, that's is a bit creepy, isn't it?"

"Hey Howard." Vince said, changing the subject.

"Hmm?"

"D'you recon if I can find a spare wheel chair we could have a race down the corridor?"

"Where are you going to find a spare wheel chair?"

"I'll ask the nurse; she fancies me." he smirked, jumping up bounding out of the room. He returned a minute or two later in a brand new chair (much better than the one that Howard had been given).

"Come on Moon." he grinned, "I'm gonna kick your arse!"

---

When they'd arrived at the hotel, (Howard had wanted to go and see Alice but Vince had persuaded him using all of his infamous charming techniques. How could Howard possibly resist?). Vince had helped Howard, with great difficulty, get out of his chair and on to the soft, white bed, then he had proceeded to fuss over him like a 50's housewife; propping up his pillows, making him a cup of tea, massaging his neck.

"Vince!" Howard finally snapped, after Vince had asked how he was feeling for the eight-hundredth time. "I'm fine. My pillow doesn't need fluffing, the bed isn't too soft and the contrast of TV isn't too bright. Now please, please." he begged "Stop fussing. It's weird. Where's the cocky, arrogant Vince Noir I fell in love with?"

"You fell it what with?" beamed Vince, sitting down on the bed.

"I fell in love with." Howard repeated, looking straight into Vince's brilliant blue eyes. The younger man felt as though Howard could see right inside him, like he knew what he was thinking and he liked it. He'd like feeling this unspeakable connection he seemed to share with Howard.

"I love you too." Vince said, pressing a gentle kiss against the others mans lips before nestling down against his chest, until Howard put a safe arm around his waste, pulling him closer still.

Howard looked down at the man lying half on him and sighed happily.

"This is real, isn't it Vince?" he asked.

"Yeah Howard. This is real." Vince sighed, happily. "And tomorrow, we can move back to my house. I'm gonna have to do some sort of apology interview as well."

"What for?"

"I cancelled my tour to be with you." Vince said offhandedly, but Howard glowed with pride. "And I never said why. But now you're okay, maybe I can face the press."

---

"Vince." Howard called from the bed.

"Yeah." Vince shouted back, mouth full of toothpaste.

"I need help."

"What?" Vince's head popped around the bathroom door and tried very hard not to laugh at the sight that greeted him. Howard was on the bed as a very odd angle. His arse was in the air, he was balancing on his good leg with his trousers caught on his cast. "Kinky." grinned the rock star.

"Shut up and help he!"

"Alright, calm down." laughed Vince, stepping over and helping him with his trousers. "There." he said proudly once Howard was sat in the bed with the duvet pulled up around his waste. "You need help with your shirt? Or can you manage that yourself?" Vince grinned cheekily.

"Ummm, I'm gonna leave it on." Howard blushed.

"That's new." Vince frowned. "You never used to sleep with a shirt on."

"Didn't I?"

"No, is there anything else that's changed about you?"

"How am I supposed to know that? You'd be the best judge of that. You seem to know me better than anyone."

Vince smiled at him and gave him a very minty kiss, before settling down in the bed beside him. Howard looked down at the man in his arms and made a promise to himself; he was never going to let Vince go again.

--

The next morning, Vince was woken up by the sound of Howard on the phone.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course it's okay. Send her up." He hung up.

"Who was that?" Vince asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"Reception." beamed Howard. "Alice is here."

"What!?" Vince almost screamed.

"What's wrong with Alice?"

"Nothing." Vince said huffily.

"Good. Now" Howard blushed, "Look away so I can change my shirt."

"Look away?" Vince asked puzzled. "Why? I've seen your _chest_ before."

"I don't care. Look away."

"What's going on?" Vince frowned.

"Nothing."

"Come on Howard, it's me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, you can tell me anything."

Howard nodded and began to unbutton his shirt slowly. Vince winced sharply as two large, square burns were revealed.

"Oh God!" he gasped, tracing them lightly with his fingers. Howard bit his lip. "Sorry, does that hurt?"

"Yeah." Howard grimaced, "A little bit."

"What's it from?" Vince asked, looking up at the older man, his eyes flooding with tears.

"Diffribulator. Don't cry. It's fine. I'd happily take a million of these burns if it meant that I could be with you."

"But it looks… they look… awful."

"Thanks." smiled Howard. "I got hit by a car, I guess I'm lucky to be here at all."

Vince nodded, a tear rolled down his cheek but he quickly wiped it away. "We're so lucky." he agreed. Howard kissed him on the forehead gently and felt one of Vince's tears land softly on his knee. He didn't know whether he was crying because he was sad or happy. Vince had been through so much over these last few months, all because of Howard. He couldn't bear to see him put through anymore pain. He'd make it right from now on, he had to.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Howard looked expectantly at Vince. Vince looked reluctant but Howard eye's said 'Well I can't do it.', so Vince angrily got to his feet and opened the door, just a fraction.

"Go away." he hissed.

"Let me in. I want to see how he is." Alice said.

"What do you care? You were going to let him die."

"I-I…" she faltered."What are you two nattering about?" called Howard from the bed. "Come on in."

"You haven't told him?" she asked.

"Of course not, it would break him." he replied bitterly "And I wont ever tell him but don't expect me to forgive you."

"I was only trying to do what I thought was best."

"I don't want to hear it."

Alice nodded tearfully and Vince stepped aside to allow her in.

In the time Vince had been talking to Alice, Howard had pulled on a new shirt and positively glowed when Alice threw his arms around his neck.

"You look better." she beamed, "A lot better."

"I feel it, hey, why don't we all go out for the day?"

"Oh,I don't… I mean." Alice stammered. "Vince? What d'you think?"

What did he think?! He thought Alice should get lost, right now. She should disappear and never come back. But, on seeing the excited look on Howard's face, he put his own reservations to the back of his mind and smiled.

"Yeah, sounds fantastic."

--

"What are you doing?" Howard whispered in Vince's ear, bringing the younger man back from his hate-ray assault on the side of Alice's head, who was ordering coffee at the counter.

"What?" Vince asked, blushing a little.

"Why are you glaring at Alice?"

"I'm not." Vince lied, grateful for the group of squealing teenage girls who chose that particular awkward moment to run up and ask for an autograph. One of them (the boldest of the group) even asked for his number.

"Now who's glaring?" Vince smirked, as the girls walked off, giggling and looking over their shoulders, waving madly.

"Shut up." Howard said sulkily.

"Oh, I love it when you're jealous." Vince grinned, leaning over to kiss him quickly on the cheek. "I'll be right back. Don't roll off anywhere."

"Cheeky." laughed Howard, watching Vince mince off towards the toilets. It wasn't as though he meant to watch him, he just couldn't help himself. Vince always looked so fantastic, maybe that was what made him so good at his job. Or maybe that's what made Howard _know_ that Vince was the one.

"Here you are." said Alice, holding out a mug of coffee. "Black, one sugar. Just how you like it."

"Thanks." Howard said, taking the coffee and resting the mug on the arm of his wheel chair.

"I see Vince has signed your cast." she chuckled, eying the various coloured stars, swirls and little pictures music notes and instruments including one tiny saxophone (because Howard had wanted something jazzy). Underneath these pictures it read 'LOVE YOU, Vince xxxxxxxxxxxxx'

"Yeah." smiled Howard, "He told me the cast would be worth a fortune on eBay now."

"It's just nice to see you looking so happy again. I'm glad you've found Vince. He's a really great guy."

"He is."

"He hardly left your side whilst you were in that coma and he spoke to you all the time."

"I think I heard him." Howard admitted quietly. "Telling me to wake up."

"What!? But that's unfair!" cried Vince, drawing the attention of the entire café as he emerged from the toilets, mobile glued to his ear. "I don't care… yeah, he's better… no, no. Not yet… fine, only if he can come. No. I'm not going otherwise."

"Who's that?" mouthed Howard, as Vince got closer.

"Frank." Vince sighed, covering the end of the phone with his hand. "He wants me to back on tour."

"That's a good thing surely." Howard said, "You love being on stage."

"Yeah, but he wants me to start tomorrow. He recons that now you're out of hospital I've got no excuse… yes Frank, I'm still here." Vince groaned, sitting gently on Howard's lap. The older man played idly with his hair provoking a lot of jealous looks from the other customers in the café.

"What d'you mean he's not allowed on the plane?" Vince shrieked down the phone. "Because his legs in a cast?… Order a private plane then… no, I'm not kidding… yes, yes. Okay, so Howard can come?… yeah. I'll do it… alright, what time?… that better me in the afternoon… morning!?… no, it's fine. Okay, Frank. Bye." he hung up and beamed at Howard. "Pack your bags gorgeous." he grinned, planting a big kiss on Howard's lips. "We're going on tour."

"We?"

"Yeah, you've got to come with me. I need you to play the saxophone like you do on the album. I can't have someone else do it, it would sound wrong. Can you get your sax by tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Howard asked, looking slightly nervous.

"Yeah. Is that a problem?"

"Probably." laughed Alice, "He's never done anything without planning it, and then planning it again and then triple checking his plan."

"Really? He's always been pretty… impulsive when he's with me."

Howard blushed and cleared his throat.

"Yes, well… what time are we leaving?"

"5.30"

"Afternoon?"

"Morning."

"What!?"

"That was my reaction but we get a private jet and everything. I might see if they can get my face painted on the side."

"Is that a joke?" Howard asked.

"No." Vince said. "Why? What's wrong with my face on the side of a plane?"

Howard was about to explain exactly how vain wanting your own face on the side of a plane was, when he thought better of it. It might be vain but it was so… Vince and he didn't want anything about Vince to change.

"No reason." he smiled, leaning forward to kiss his boyfriend on the side of the head. "No reason at all."

--

**Loved Up and Rocked Out - Vince Noir: Back to His Best**

We talk music, life and love with Vince Noir after his recent world tour, which featured performances from 'Gary Numan', 'Mick Jagger' and his long-term partner 'Howard Moon'.

_Vince Noir. You__'__ve just won artist of the year, album of the year and sexiest male of the year. Well done._

Thanks a lot.

_Did any of those come as a surprise to you?_

No, not really. I don't know if you've heard my album, I'm pretty good. And sexiest male… well, that was given, wasn't it?

_Well, you__'__ve certainly been doing incredibly recently. Can we expect a new album soon?_

Umm, well… I wrote a few songs on tour but I don't think they'll be a new album for a while. I'm working on a few songs on Howard's new album though, which is out on the 14th December, by the way.

_We noticed you were on a few of the songs. Are you planning to merge your careers from now on?_

No. Our fans don't cross at all. Mixing our styles would never work.

_Well, most of the fans liked his contribution on your last album and on stage._

I'd let him know but then he might start thinking he's better than me and I can't have that, can I?

_We noticed he was in a wheel chair and a cast, was that because of the infamous accident everyone__'__s talking about?_

Yeah. He broke his leg. The cast's off now though, thank god! It was really getting in the way when we were… you know... Oh, he's going to kill me for saying that. (laughs) Oh well, it's said now.

_Now, you__'__re just back from your unbelievably successful world tour. People are saying this is the best performance you__'__ve ever given, what made this one extra special?_

Howard. I know I'm going on about him but he makes me happy and when I'm happy I make the fans happy. I think when I'm having fun on stage people watching pick up on it and enjoy themselves even more. I can honestly say Howard's changed my life and my performances on stage for the better.

_Howard really is __'__the one__'__, isn__'__t he? Can we hear wedding bells on the horizon?_

Well, I don't want to move too quickly, but…well, I wouldn't say 'no' (he giggles).

* * *

**Okay, so that's it!! That was a bit of a long final chapter! (Sorry about that.) Anyway, thanks for reading (and reviewing)! Might have to stop with the stories for a while (don't cheer, that'll be mean) because of all the school work and boring other stuff that our lives are full of!  
Anyway, love y'all!  
****Sisi...xx**


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